Casting All Your Care on Him
BY HAL BRUNSON
I Peter 5:7 IN HIS FIRST EPISTLE, the apostle Peter commands: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" (5:6).
To humble oneself affirms the right posture of the person who recognizes that the omnipotent God is absolutely sovereign, that He works all things after the counsel of His own will. For such a person, there is a willingness to submit, because he knows God does all things perfectly.
Peter continues in verse 7, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." This is the command that I particularly want to focus on in this message.
Perhaps some of you are worrying about something. It may be finances, it may be family, it may be sickness, it may be marital problems. So, I would like to discuss the in-depth meaning of the three key words in this verse, so that you can better understand what God is saying to you here and why you really ought to cast all your care on Him.
The Word "Care"
The word "care" is from the Greek merimnao, which literally means "a division of the mind". From that, we can see why Philippians 4:6 tells us to be "careful for nothing"that is, to be full of care for nothing. Christians, you see, are not supposed to have a divided mind.For the believer, the Bible says: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who...made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant" (Phil. 2:5-7). How was the servitude of Christ's mind manifested? In obedience to God. "He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (v. 8).
In short, to be Christ-like, we are to single-mindedly serve and obey God. How can anyone do that whose mind is preoccupied with something else?
Unfruitful. In the parable of the sower, Jesus discusses the different ways people might respond to the gospel. Of the third, He says, "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care (merimnao) of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matt. 13:22).
To be preoccupied with worldly things and worldly problems is a sin. It will choke your spiritual growth, making you unfruitful. In the Bible, not being fruitful is equivalent to unbelief.
This same warning is issued by the apostle James. Speaking of the one who doubts when he prays, he says, "Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (1:7,8). God, you see, rejects the double-minded.
Useless. The word merimnao can also be translated "to give preoccupied thought to something", or in short "to take thought". Jesus talks about this in Matthew 6. In verse 25, He says, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on." That, too, is a command.
And in verse 27, He asks rhetorically, "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?" In other words, it's useless to worry; it won't change anything one iota.
Instead of being preoccupied with things that the pagans run after, the Lord declares, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (v. 33).
We are commanded to be single-minded, to focus our spiritual eyes solely upon Christ, remembering that our heavenly Father knows exactly what we need.
But how do we cast our problems to Christ?
The Word "Casting"
Well, the Greek word that is translated "casting" (epirrhipto) means "to hurl upon". God uses that word in the Bible in only one other verse, Luke 19:35. It reads, "Then they brought the colt unto the Lord and they cast their garments upon him."Casting one's care upon the Lord, you see, is much like the disciples hurling their garments upon the back of the donkey. Having done so, they needed no longer to carry their own load.
The Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem underscores, of course, that He came as the King, in fulfillment of prophecy. But that moment in Christ's life also symbolizes the fact that He came to bear our burden as well as our sin.
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus Himself tells us to cast our care on Him: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest."Note that the Lord is not addressing those who are carefree, those who have no worries. He is talking to people who are weary and heavily burdened. If you fit that description, He is calling you. You see, burdens are God's gracious tool to bring us to Him.
Now, verse 29: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
The way to peace. There we have itthe God-given way to cast our heavy cares upon the Lord and take His easy yoke upon us: We learn of Him.
When the Bible says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ," isn't it exhorting us to meditate upon God's Word? Isn't that the power and instrument of our transformation in Christianity, that we learn of the Lord Jesus Christ?
If we would have the peace of God that passes all understanding, then we must study the Bible to show ourselves approved unto God. We need to rightly divide the word of truth. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me", Jesus says.
Note that I Peter 5:7 says, "casting all your care upon him." The "ing" form of that verb means that this is a continuing process. Just because there's a moment of peace with God doesn't mean that all our burdens are gone. Casting our cares upon the Lord is a perennial task. How do you do that? By consistently learning of Christ, by studying His Word and meditating on it.
There we have itthe God-given way to cast our heavy cares upon the Lord and take His Serve and pray. To be more Christ-like, we also need to learn to serve others. Jesus says, "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Mark 10:45); and "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (Matt. 20:26,27).
So, to alleviate your own burdens, carry someone else's burdens. That sounds paradoxical, but it's true.
In Galatians 6:2, Paul says: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." As you fulfil the law of Christ, as you bear another's burden, you will discover the joy of serving, along with a lightening of your own load.
And we need to pray. Philippians 4:6, which begins with "Be careful for nothing", continues by showing us the alternative: "but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
No matter what is bothering us, God wants us to turn our burdens to Him by prayer.
Proverbs 3:5,6 says: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." And Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
When you find yourself overwhelmed by problems, most probably you have been leaning on your own understanding. But God tells us to acknowledge Him in all our ways. He wants us to call unto Him. God is
faithful. As we turn to God in prayer, He does supernaturally remove burdens and give us peace.Patience. How do we cast our care on the Lord? We learn of Christ, we serve, we trust, we pray, and then we wait. Patience is probably the Christian virtue most difficult to cultivate. But God does want us to be patient.
James 1:4 says, "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." And David said, "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry" (Psa. 40:1).
This goes back to recognizing that God is absolutely sovereign and that everything He does, including His timing, is perfect. Patience, therefore, is a matter of submitting humbly under the mighty hand of God.
The Word "Careth"
The word "careth" in the phrase "because He careth for you" is different from the word "care" that we studied earlier. This word is from the Greek melo, which means to have premeditated and absolutely-focused attention upon.This is how Jesus cares for every believer. He's premeditated it. Before time began, He had decided to absolutely focus His love and attention on every child of His.
Do you know that the term "the apple of mine eye" in the Old Testament is not talking about a beautiful fruit that God holds in front of His eye? Rather, it refers to the cornea, the little transparent part that is in front of the pupil of the eye. So, when God says, "I will keep you as the apple of my eye," He is saying that you are always right there before His eye.
Yes, the poignant focus of God's attention will always be focused perfectly upon His children. So, if you are a child of God, you can rest assured that your heavenly Father is constantly and carefully watching over you. That's why you really ought to cast all your care upon Him, not only because it's a sin if you don't. But you can do so with peace and confidence because He really cares for you. o
Rev. Hal Brunson is pastor of First Baptist Church, 5304 E. Parker Road, Parker, TX 75002.