“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”—1Peter 5:6-7
In the above opening text, Peter by the Holy Spirit, reiiterates one of the Lord’s greatest, and yet most ignored instructions…
That is, the instruction to cast all our care upon God. From the above opening text, Peter opens our eyes further to the fact that casting all our care upon God is how we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. And that if we do so, the Lord exalts us in due time.
If casting our cares upon God is indeed humility before God…
Then the opposite is also true. That is, refusing to cast all our care upon him is pride and arrogance before God…
If casting our cares upon God is righteousness before God, our anxiety and worries over things as christians is definitely a grave sin unto God. And like every other grave sin against God, God doesn’t respect or smile at the believer who indulges in this wicked act of unbelief.
And this very point can be clearly seen from the matter of the israelite spys. When the spys came back, those who got nervous at the sight of their enemies attracted the wrath of God. While the two(Joshua and Caleb) who maitained their calm and confidence in God regardless of the size of their enemies received great blessings from God.
And this is why this topic of casting our care upon God is emphasized severally in scriptures. Our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ critically instructs us concerning this particular issue by admonishing us to take thought of nothing, including our feeding, our clothing and our tomorrow.
He tells us that our heavenly Father cares so much about our needs. And that as we prioritize his kingdom and his righteousness; all our needs will be taken care of by him (see Matthew 6:25-34). The Lord further says;
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Yet many in Christ Jesus continue to bear all their burden. Some even bear more burden than the unbelievers. Some are crippled by their burden. Some die by their burden. While so many’s faith are completely choked to death by their burden or cares of this life.
Why? Because they won’t let God help them bear all their burden. Because they won’t humble themselves to obey God’s simple instruction of casting all their care upon him. Their pride and ubelief tells them God is not sufficient enough for all their cares. Some believe God can only be able to lend a helping hand, if they can share some of their care or burden with him…
Instead of throwing all upon him as the scriptures instruct.
Others believe, casting all their cares on God is irresponsibility and insensivity. They even accuse the few who cast their cares on God of irresponsibility, insensitivity and being uncaring or carefree.
They admire and respect those who worry and are pathetic about everything like them. They believe those who worry and are anxious about everything are more loving, sensitive and compassionate. But that’s a great delusion.
That is totally ungodly. It is against the counsel of God and scriptures. Every disobedience to God’s instruction is a sin. If the Lord says we should be anxious for nothing and we go on worrying and getting anxious about things, then we are grievous sinners that need repentance. The sin of carefulness(anxiety) is as grave as that of fornication and the rest.
And many christians indulge in it often without feeling any single remorse about it. Worse still, believers commit this sin with so much self-justification. And many don’t even accept that is a sin, because it has natural justification. But the Lord is definitely not smiling at this grave wickedness against him…
Because so many people of God, of all ages have been maimed and destroyed by this sin of carefulness (anxiety, worries). So the Lord is asking us for repentance, so we can enjoy the best of his gracious care.
Because he certainly do care a great deal for us.
How to Cast Our Cares on God
“Be careful for nothing; 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”—Phillipians 4:6-7
From the above scripture, the Lord through the Apostle Paul shows us clearly how to continually cast our cares or worries on him. He says we should be careful for nothing. But rather in everything, we should make our requests known unto God by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. In other words, if we have any issue of concern…
Whether spiritually, materially or otherwise, we should throw it on God through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in faith.
Then finally verse seven says, “And the peace of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”
So as we continually cast all our care on God, the word of God says we’ll enjoy the peace of God in our hearts. And this supernatural peace is the rest the Lord speaks about, when he says come unto me all you that are labored and heavy laden and I’ll give you rest.
And we access and enjoy it as we obey his instruction of casting all our cares on him through prayers and supplication with thanksgiving in faith.
So there you have it. Casting your cares on God and its awesome reward and benefits.
Remain Blessed!
Emeke Odili
