By johninnc (image provided by Holly Garcia)
1 Peter 5:6-7:
[6] Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
[7] Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
For those who have received the free gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus, learning to cast our care upon God can be frightening. Our natural instinct is to try to fix our problems on our own, or do it with an “assist” from God. Satan preys on these tendencies.
But we really only cast our care upon God when we realize we are helpless. This is when we find ourselves truly humble. Sometimes, we wait until our own abilities are exhausted and then cast our care upon Him.
1 Peter 5:8-9:
[8] Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
[9] Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Our fleshly rendition of this passage is to keep an eye out for trouble, and to make sure to fight it off. But, we are no match for the devil. He doesn’t fight fair. He gets in our heads. He influences our thoughts.
Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:13 gives us the solution:
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
The full armor of God is not His trappings. It is God Himself.
Ephesians 6:16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
The shield of faith – the object of our faith – is God Himself.
Psalm 28:7: The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
The Lord is trying to teach us to cast our care on Him. He doesn’t punish us when we don’t – he allows us to feel the pain. But, he blesses us when we do.
Psalm 23:
[1] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
[2] He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
[3] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
[4] Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
[5] Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
[6] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
I find Psalm 23 to be one of the most comforting passages of scripture – the calmness associated with the Good Shepherd. He will come get us if we are in the ditch and call out to Him. He will defend us against the enemy. He is there for us always. Cast all of your care upon Him.
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Notes From A Retired Preacher 
Josh, hope to see you back and that you might get some comfort from His Word.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4
Josh,
Just like Jason65, LS did a number on me as well. It seems that this is a place of healing for those that have been damaged by the false gospel of works for or evidence of Salvation.
Kate.
Josh, LS did a number on me, too.
Josh, we are glad you are here!
I stumbled upon this at a time while I was anxious and worried about so many things that I was a wreck. Thank you.
Phil, I remember that about ‘Great is thy Faithfulness’.
Johninnc, this was a good reminder for the great necessity of our armor, and reading about what happens when we do not cast our cares on Him, so true. The burdens remains heavy. Somehow our sin nature wants to take our cares back. Or sometimes we want to hide our head in the sand rather than be a part of the solution with Him guiding and directing us. I hope some I know might read this and pray about it, really take it in. It is so much easier going through hard times with Him if we would just get that through our thick heads sometimes rather than wallowing in our misery.
Excellent post, John, thank you.
holly, I never read Lamentations much, and the wonderful hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” come from this passage. The Lord has much here to say and comfort the believer. We can and should cast all our cares upon him.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off for ever: but though he cause grief,
yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Lam 3:21-33
John, we had a Bible study last week, in which it was kind of free and unplanned. We were to be on John 12, but because of some health issues and things I needed to deal with, I was unable to teach. But the Word was just wonderful, very similar to this. One started with Psalm 139 and I believe most of us had silent tears from the emotion of reflecting on God’s love towards us.
We moved on to Psalm 63 with is a special one to me. Then we went to Psalm 73:21-28, then Psalm 56:8-13 (He keeps our tears, and numbers our wandering — God is for me -He has delivered our soul from death, and kept our feet from falling). Then 147:3-7, we spoke about how He heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds, and how He numbers the stars and calls them by name…Ps 94:17-19, Jer 31:25; Lam 3:19-33. I’ll share a few. We just kept going… How great the Lord is to comfort us, revive us, strengthen us, by His Word.
Thank you John, here are some others that come to mind. We need His Word.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:6-7
This is one I like too, if I could always remember to do these things:
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:3-5