Episode 1323: Cast Your Anxiety on Him

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,323 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

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[00:00:37] Scott Maderer: We began to recognize that and call that out and focus more on that, then on the tendency to worry or be anxious or be scared of what is coming. And in that way, we can begin to cast our worry upon the Lord. Because the Lord is able to take it. And it's about how we position our heart [00:01:00] and our mind.

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[00:01:32] In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk with you about one Peter chapter four, verses 12 through 14, and chapter five, verses six through 11. I share how we are called to cast our anxieties under the Lord, but how hard that really is. And I also talk a little bit about how it's really not about our cares, but rather your mind.

[00:01:54] And your heart. One. Peter chapter four, 12 through 14 [00:02:00] says, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his G glory is revealed.

[00:02:17] If you're reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory, which is the spirit of God, is resting on you. And then chapter five, verses six through 11 says, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

[00:02:38] Discipline yourself. Keep alert like a roaring lion. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around looking for someone to devour. Resist him steadfast in your faith. For you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering, and after you have suffered for a little while.

[00:02:56] The God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in [00:03:00] Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you to him be the power forever and ever. Amen. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. That's what chapter five verse seven says, or a version of chapter five, verse seven in one.

[00:03:20] Peter says, and how many times have you heard that the advice from other Christians when you're worried about something, when you're nervous about something, when you're scared about something, basically people say, leave your worries at the foot of the cross. Give it over to Jesus. There's lots of different ways that we say that to each other as Christians, but the real question is, Do we actually do it?

[00:03:45] How often do we actually give up our cares and our anxiety over to God or over to Christ? I? Is it even possible to actually do that? And actually, I would argue that it has to be possible because [00:04:00] we're not really given commands by God that aren't possible. We're not told to do something impossible in our relationship.

[00:04:10] With God, but yet it's obviously something that isn't easy. These questions that we have around our frustrations and our worries and our anxiety come from years of experience, and it's a very difficult task. Even knowing that God cares for us, even knowing that Jesus loves us, even knowing these things, even somebody that's grown up in the church from day one and has a deep and an admirable faith, has a difficult times at times casting their cares onto Jesus.

[00:04:47] And if you think about the rest of Peter, Peter is talking about all of the things that happen in the human condition, all of the ordeals that we face. Things like a lion prowling, looking for a [00:05:00] chance to devour us. I dunno about you, but I felt like that before, that the world is ready to jump on me and eat me alive.

[00:05:08] And it can feel like that a lot. There's real fears, there's real things that happen in the world. There's real danger, there's real problems. And if we're being told to ignore them, to just pretend like they don't exist, how are we supposed to cast them aside? How are we not supposed to try to fix them?

[00:05:29] How are we not supposed to help? How are we not supposed to do something about it? And that's one of the interesting parts here. If you look at the phrasing, it's not saying ignore the problem. It's not saying, pretend like it doesn't exist. It's not saying disengage and just live in blissful ignorance and be totally Pollyanna about the realities of what's going on.

[00:05:56] It's not saying, avoid your responsibility and don't [00:06:00] take personal responsibility or say that's not my problem. For sure. There are many things that aren't your problem, but there are other things that are, and should we just cast those off as well? There's a little bit more if we explore into first Peter A.

[00:06:20] Little bit more. Maybe we can figure out a little bit about what's really, what are we really being called to do? First, let's look at the word for anxiety or worry. Or care. We often say cast your cares onto the Lord. But the actual word that is translated is really cast your care onto the Lord. So are we only asked to select one?

[00:06:49] Maybe look for our most, our worst one. Our biggest one, our hardest one. And then we get to keep the rest of 'em and wrestle with those. Maybe it's [00:07:00] God has a cue and can only handle one problem at a time. So we can only pray about one problem at a time. And surely that's not it either.

[00:07:12] What if we look at it a little differently? What if we don't think about anxiety or worry here and interpret it that way, but instead, we don't think about it as the individual problems, but rather it's about our approach. To the problem. Maybe cast all your caring on him or set aside your tendency to become worried about every single problem you face.

[00:07:39] Face the problems, acknowledge them. Do things about them, but don't worry about them. Maybe trust that God is with you in this. Maybe it's not about stopping to care. But instead about recognizing that God cares for us, [00:08:00] it's about the worry, not the problem. Don't be anxious is said in other places. The Psalm that goes along with this lesson in the lectionary is Psalm 68, and it talks about, Being, let the righteous be joyful.

[00:08:18] Let them exalt before God. Let them be jubilant with joy. Sing to God, sing praises to him. Father of orphans and protector of widows is God. It talks about all of the things that God does for us. It starts with, Complaint, believe it or not, the actual first ver verse is Let God rise up. Let his enemies be scattered.

[00:08:42] Let those who hate him flee before him. It's an attack, and then it moves on and talks about other things. It talks about being in joy. There's a choice here, [00:09:00] and it's about moving towards joy instead of worry. How do we get into joy? First we recognize God and what God has done and what God is able to do and what God is always doing.

[00:09:14] We focus on what is right and what is good. We focus on not our power, but God's power. We look to see God at work and everything around us, and we look again, and then we look again, and then we look a little deeper and we begin to recognize that. Out of this difficulty, there's still something good that we can take from it.

[00:09:39] We begin to look at the word of God. We look at the scripture, we look at the church, we look at the history. We look at our own experience, and we look for places where God is acting, where healing is happening, where the good is happening. We begin to recognize that and call [00:10:00] that out and focus more on that than on the tendency to worry or be anxious or be scared of what is coming.

[00:10:08] And in that way, we can begin to cast our worry upon the Lord because the Lord is able to take it. And it's about how we position our heart and our mind much more than it is about the worries that we have. Thanks for listening.

[00:10:32] Thanks

[00:10:32] Scott Maderer: so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired.

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