Casting All Your Care

1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” The question has been asked, “What is the ‘care’ we are to cast on Him?” Is it the ‘care’ of love and affection or is it the ‘care’ pertaining to life’s burdens?

We are told to ‘cast’ or as BC Vol. 7, p. 586 and BC Vol. 3 p. 763 and 764 says to ‘throw’ or ‘place’, once and for all, all your ‘care’ upon Him. The apostle Peter quotes from David in Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Here David is repeating the promise to himself, and shares it with all who would learn from his experience. God does not always remove the load, but He supports those who set forth in faith. What a wonderful promise here is given if we would only do as we are asked to do.

The two words used, in 1 Peter, ‘care’ and in Psalms, ‘burden’, are, according to the Talmud, of the same meaning, that of ‘to be anxious about something,’ In the Greek the phrase ‘all your care’ is emphatic as seen in Matthew 6:25 which gives a very clear meaning to the word ‘care.’ “Therefore I say unto you, ‘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. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”

“He who places all his anxiety upon God completely solves the problem of ‘care’, which weakens so many Christians.” 7BC p. 587.
“No class is free from the temptation to worldly care. To the poor, toil and deprivation and the fear of want bring perplexities and burdens. To the rich come fear of loss and a multitude of anxious cares. Many of Christ’s followers forget the lesson He has bidden us learn from the flowers of the field. They do not trust to His constant care. Christ cannot carry their burden, because they do not cast it upon Him. Therefore the cares of life, which should drive them to the Saviour for help and comfort, separate them from Him.” COL 51.

How does God care for us compared to the way He cares for the rest of creation?
Matthew 6:25 – 31. The flowers of the field, the fowls of the air, the grass of the field are all under His control and care. He provides for them. How much more will He care for us, His ‘image.’ Hebrews 12:2 … who for the joy (of our redemption) … endured the cross, despising the shame and is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Is there anything that we can do to increase our stature? No, nothing.
What should we as God’s children, be seeking above all things?
Matthew 6:31-33. ‘Therefore take no thought, saying what shall we drink? Or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after these things do the Gentiles seek:) For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Are we to take ‘care’for any other day except the day we awaken to?
Matthew 6:34. ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take care of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

What are we doing when we ignore God’s gracious invitation to cast our burdens upon Him?
“We are in this world to form characters for eternity. God does not want His people to be under constant condemnation. He would have them learn to confide in Him. We need not be content with merely formal prayers; we may come to Jesus as to a friend, and in the most simple-hearted, definite manner tell Him all our worries, perplexities, and trials, and He will carry our burdens for us. When our minds and our lives get tangled, we may take them to One who knows just how to untangle them. But after we have asked God to do this work for us, let us rest it with Hun. Here is where so many fail. They tell the Lord all their troubles, and then go on worrying just the same. They pray about their cares and sins, but do not cast off their cares nor cease to sin. Jesus invites us to cast all our cares upon him, for he cares for us; then let us leave them with Him, and receive His peace and rest into our hearts.” RH 21-10-84

“May God help us to bring the love of Jesus into our religion. We shall have help, when we feel our weakness, and when we ask God for His strength. He has invited us to come to Him with all our burdens, and to cast our care upon Him who cares for us. Will we obey this gracious invitation? Will we lay our burdens down at the feet of our compassionate Lord? Many act as though they had been to Jesus, and that He had refused to help them. In this you dishonour your Saviour. If, after you pray to the Lord concerning your anxieties, you gather up the old troubles, and go forth fretting and complaining, you do not glorify the God you profess to serve.” RH 07-08-88

When we cast our cares on God, what can we expect in return?
Isaiah 26:4 ‘Trust in the LORD forever for in Him is strength everlasting. He is our strength forever.”
Jeremiah 17:7,8 “Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and [that] spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” We will have all our needs supplied.

1 Peter 5:6-11 “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. Be ye sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.’But the God of grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle (you). To him (be) glory and dominion for ever and ever, amen.” We are to do our part, give Him our very best. The LORD will do the rest He will exalt those who humble themselves.

What does the LORD say about those who trust their cares upon man?
Jeremiah 17:5,6 “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, [in] a salt land and not inhabited.

As Christians, how can the ‘cares’ we experience draw us closer to God?
“Our sorrows do not spring out of the ground. In every affliction God has a purpose to work out for our good. Every blow that destroys an idol, every providence that weakens our hold upon earth and fastens our affections more firmly upon God, is a blessing.

The pruning may be painful for a time, but afterward it ‘yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.’ We should receive with gratitude whatever will quicken the conscience, elevate the thoughts, and ennoble the life. The fruitless branches are cut off and cast into the fire. Let us be thankful that through painful pruning, we may retain a connection with the living Vine; for if we suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with Him. The very trial that taxes our faith the most severely and makes it seem as though God had forsaken us, is to lead us more clearly to Him, that we may lay all our burdens at the feet of Christ, and experience the peace which He will give us in exchange. Let no Christian feel that he is forsaken when the hour of trial comes upon him. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly Father’s notice. God loves and cares for the feeblest of His creature, and we cannot dishonour Him more than by doubting His love to us.
O let us cultivate that living faith that will trust Him in the hour of darkness and trial! Living faith in the merits of a crucified Redeemer will carry men through the fiery furnace of affliction and trial, and the form of the Fourth will be with them in the furnace, however fierce its heat; and they will come forth from its flame with not even the smell of fire on their garments.” RH 10-04-94

What are the tender words spoken by Christ to every human being?
In words of tenderness Christ invites us; “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.” Lay all your cares upon Me, He says, I will carry them for you.

“In these words Christ is speaking to every human being. Whether they know it or not, all are weary and heavy laden. All are weighed down with burdens that only Christ can remove. The heaviest burden that we bear is the burden of sin. If we were left to bear this burden, it would crush us. But the sinless One has taken our place. ‘The Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.’ He has borne the burden of our guilt. He will take the load from our weary shoulders. He will give us rest. The burden of our care and sorrow also He will bear. He invites us to cast our cares upon Him; for He carries us upon His heart. Not until we stand face to face with God, when we shall see as we are seen and know as we are known, shall we know how many burdens the Saviour has borne for us, and how many burdens He would have been glad to bear, had we brought them to Him.” ST 16-04-02

Why is it that our Saviour can bear all our cares?
“The Elder Brother of our race is by the eternal throne. He looks upon every soul who is turning his face to Him as the Saviour. He knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are our wants, and where lies the strength of our temptations; for ‘He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ ‘Come unto Me,’ is His invitation. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger you will become in His strength. ‘In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.” ST 16-04-02

What is the promise given to us when we cry for help?

“Human love may change, but Christ’s love knows no change. When we cry to Him for help, His hand is stretched out to save. The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.’ ” ST 16-04-02

The ‘cares’ we burden ourselves with are of this world and in disobedience to the request of the LORD to ‘cast our cares’ on Him, we dishonour Him.

Oh, my brother, my sister, let us be children of God, ‘throw’ our anxieties upon Him so that we might be accounted as ‘righteous’, and spend the energies we would use in taking back our cares, on seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.