Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. 1 Peter 5:7 AMP
How do you cast the whole of your care? or indeed as The Message bible says,
Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you. 1 Peter 5:7 The Message
Here are some of my thoughts on how to cast your cares, based on my many years of (unwanted!) experience. I pray they are a blessing to you.
Before we can fully cast our cares we have to have heart revelation about these truths:
1. God cares about you.
Declare His word ...
Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about [your name]. 1 Peter 5:7 NLT
Remind yourself ... of what He has done in your life, in a practical sense, to care for you.
2. God loves you.
Declare His word ...
For this is how God loved [your name]: He gave his one and only Song, so that [your name] who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT
Remind yourself ... that Jesus died for you, so you could be reconciled with your Heavenly Father who loves you.
3. God is faithful.
Declare His word ...
But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen [your name] and guard [your name] from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 NLT
Remind yourself ... of the times when God strengthened you and protected you.
4. God has a good plan for you.
Declare His word ...
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
Remind yourself ... of times when things seemed hopeless and God gently reminded you that He is sovereign and He has a plan, and you were once again filled with hope.
Once we have these reminded ourselves of Who God is, and hopefully had a deeper revelation in that time of remembering, we can take the step of faith of giving our worries and cares to God. That means, we tell God what we are anxious about, worried about, and concerned about. Some days that will be short list, other days it will be a long list. And then we thank him for all He has done, just a Paul tells us to do ...
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT
Then the next challenge comes, to leave those anxieties, worries and concerns with God. Because, when we leave them with God, we receive the blessing of His peace...
Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 NLT
Leaving those anxieties, worries and concerns with God, in a practical sense means that if they start to surface in your mind again, before they get to fully present themselves, you cut them off. You say to them,
'No, I have given you to God. You no longer have a place in my thought life.'
And then you declare the scriptures listed above, and any other scriptures God puts on your heart, reminding yourself that
- God cares about you
- God loves you
- God is faithful
- God has a plan and it is good
- God's perfect peace is yours.
- God is working all things together for good.
Some times it may be necessary to rebuke those anxious thoughts many times a day, and that's okay. There have been many days when I have continually declared God's love and goodness over my life and our family's life.
As we get greater revelation of Who God is, and who we are in Him, the casting of cares and trusting of Him becomes easier and easier, releasing us to live out His purposes for us here on earth.
After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completed what he had begun. Romans 8:30 The Message
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