Cast all your anxiety on the Lord, because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
Have you ever experienced anxiety?
That inability to take a step forward because you don’t know what is ahead?
The non-stop inner monologue that wakes you in the middle of the night and won’t let you fall back to sleep?
The tension and fear that just won’t let you go?
Sometimes, when we’re in a season of grief or illness or newness, our anxiety can just take over.
It’s paralyzing.
It can seem insurmountable.
All it does is bring up more of the same.
Anxiety begets anxiety.
Worry begets worry.
Questions beget more questions.
What do I do next?
How am I supposed to get through this?
Why is this happening?
And in the midst of this – it is easy to do one of two things:
- Put on happy face. Fake it until you make it. Pretend you’re ok when you’re not ok.
- Make a nest in your bed and never leave.
I personally like to rotate between these two depending on how much crap I have to get done.
But that doesn’t mean I’m ok.
Been there?
There now?
You are not alone.
(Before I go on, I want to be clear that for some people, anxiety is more than daily worries or fears. It’s real, big, and sometimes requires medical treatment. I don’t want to minimize this kind of anxiety at all, so know that if you are struggling with significant anxiety, you can get professional help and you can get better)
This verse from 1 Peter popped out to me today, and I was caught by one word: cast.
The Greek word used here means to toss or throw.
And for you other Uplift nerds out there, the only other place in the whole Bible that this word is used is when Jesus is riding a donkey through Jerusalem and people are throwing their coats down onto the ground in front of him on the road.
That’s what we’re supposed to do with our anxiety.
I love the image of throwing my cares, my worries, my anxiety directly into the path of God.
God can take it.
And the reason we should throw our crap onto God is because God cares.
God cares about you. God concerns himself with you because you are Gods.
Oh gosh I just want to read this over and over again.
God is looking at you right now and saying: Oh Child of God – Bring. It. On.
I can take it.
Whatever is keeping you up at night. I can take it.
Whatever is occupying your mind. I’ve got it.
Whatever causes you to want to hide in your room all day. Hand it over.
It might feel really big,
But God is bigger.
And God has you covered.
So pick up your worries and cares and things holding you back and throw them at God.
Go ahead.
God can take it.
God’s got you.
