Casting Your Cares on the Lord
Whether it be our families, ministries, or the world we live in, we can have various triggers that prompt us to be prone to worry. H.B. Charles is a preacher I enjoy hearing (and the SBCV will be hosting again at the 2024 SBCV Annual Homecoming). He recounts how missionary leader E. Stanley Jones worried:
Stanley Jones was the “Billy Graham of India.” In 1938, Time called Jones “the world’s greatest Christian missionary.” But his work was almost aborted by anxiety. Upon arriving in India from the United States, worry about the work ahead caused him to collapse several times. He returned home, but he collapsed again on this ship. His doctor ordered him to rest for a year. Upon returning to India, his anxieties resumed. His coworkers feared it would kill him. In prayer, a voice asked, “Are you ready for this work to which I have called you?” “No, Lord,” replied Jones. “I have reached the end of my resources.” The Lord answered, “If you will turn that over to me and not worry about it, I will take care of it.” Jones replied, “Lord, I close the bargain right here.” Peace replaced worry. And Jones spent a lifetime of ministry in India, wrote numerous books, and ministered to multitudes worldwide.
On average, each week, we spend 14.31 hours worrying. That equals 744 hours of worry each year. Which turns into 45,243 hours of worry over a lifetime. That equals 1885 days in a lifetime spent doing nothing but worrying. Which means that we spend 5.2 years of life captured by worry.
1 Peter 5:7 exhorts us to cast all our anxieties on the Lord, because He cares for us. The Christian Standard Bible translates it as “throw all your anxieties on Him.”
Casting our worries on the Lord involves humbling myself under God (see 1 Peter 5:6).
Casting our worries on the Lord involves handing off our concerns to Him.
Casting our worries on the Lord involves trusting God cares for us.
When my kids were younger, they would come home from school after a long day and “cast” their backpacks on the floor. They would just throw them aside. Sometimes I would be home in time to walk with them home from the bus stop. On occasion I could tell it had been a “long day.” I would ask them to hand off their backpack and let me carry the load as we walked home.
Loved ones, I need to keep in mind that I can cast my backpack of worries and concerns onto the Lord. His shoulders are broad enough to carry the load.
Your brother in Christ,
BRIAN AUTRY
Executive Director
SBC of Virginia