Casting Your Cares

It is a memory I cherish – my little three-year-old girl singing her heart out. She has always loved music and she was taken with a musical group that visited our church. One of their songs that she latched onto was the praise chorus – I Cast All My Cares. She sang that song over and over for weeks.

Even at this young age, she grasped the importance of this beloved chorus which is based on the following verse:

“Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.” Psalm 55:22

As she sang that song over and over, I was given the reminder of how our loving God sustains each of us. It is a great song of hope in both good times and bad.

Still, I have my challenges with these words from the Psalms.

I really like to be able to do things myself. I prefer not be dependent on someone else if possible. With my quiet nature I am often reluctant to seek the assistance of others and instead fumble around myself to try to figure things out first.

But God’s way is different. He tells us to cast our cares on Him.

The choice of the word “cast” is an interesting one. It means to throw something forcefully. What a picture that word paints. I see myself taking what is bothering me and, giving it all I’ve got, throwing it away. This is not gently putting your cares in some container. God’s method is for us to emphatically take our cares and worries and throw them over to Him.

Sometimes I find things in the house that bring to light bad memories or that cause me frustration in some form. My husband’s suggestion? He says I should take whatever it is and throw it as far into the bush as I can. In his mind the act of throwing the item away is healing in itself.

Now, I am not littering my acreage with unwanted items. But even mentally “throwing away” things that cause me grief is a healthy response. Even better is when I take my troubles and my cares and give them to the Lord.

This verse in Psalms is in two parts. First there is the vigorous action of putting our cares on the Lord. But take note of the second – “He will sustain you.” It isn’t just that God hears our concerns – He then takes action, loving action. God promises to strengthen and support us through whatever is going on in our lives. He is there to encourage us when times are tough and to comfort us when things get beyond what we can bear.

I am thankful for this Scriptural reminder today. As we face some decisions about our future, I am worrying much more than I should. I make myself upset wracking my brains through all the possibilities. But the solution is already there – cast my cares on the Lord. I don’t understand why certain parts of my life are the way they are, but God does. He will be there to walk me through. If I can trust Him to sustain me through it all, even better.

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