Cast Your Cares…but How?
I grew up in a small Midwest town.
Every Sunday and Wednesday, my family went to the local Baptist church,
where I learned that God created the whole world and that Jesus loves the little children.
And it was at this church that I first heard the “Cares Chorus” by Kelly Willard.
I cast all my cares upon you.
I lay all my burdens down at your feet,
and any time I don't know what to do,
I will cast all my cares upon you.
I've loved that song for as long as I can remember.
I have prayed that prayer in my heart more times than I can count.
And casting your cares on Jesus seems pretty simple
when you’re a little girl. . .
When your feelings get hurt by your friend, you just tell Jesus all about it
and you start to feel better
Or when your parents don't let you go to your friend's house,
you tell Jesus about how it feels so unfair,
and you feel a little bit better.
Or when you're riding your bike and you fall and scrape your knee,
you tell Jesus all about how much it hurts,
and you start to feel a little bit better.
But what do you do when your burdens are
much more significant!?
When hurt feelings and scraped knees sound like a walk in the park!
In my experience,
it's not so easy to just cast your cares on the Lord, when your cares are “grown up” cares!
Currently, I find myself with some “cares” that feel pretty big
This morning, I was reflecting on this song and wondering why it just doesn’t feel as easy as the song makes it seem.
Frankly, I was remembering and longing for the days when singing that song brought peace to my distraught little girl heart.
So I decided I needed a little more information…
The “Cares Chorus” comes from 1 Peter 5:7 which says,
“casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.”
Did you notice the problem here?
This is actually the second half of a thought!
It's not a complete thought.
I had always “quoted” this verse as saying,
“cast all your cares on him, because he cares about you.”
perhaps because that’s what the song says - but that’s not what the verse says!
In order to really understand verse 7, we need to first read verse 6.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:6-7 CSB)
“Ahhhh… this changes everything!”
You see, the “casting your cares” part follows the instruction to “humble yourselves” “under the mighty hand of God”.
I’m not gonna lie, this one’s hard!
The truth is, I don’t like to humble myself…not even under the mighty hand of God.
I like to feel in control. I want to figure things out and fix them for myself!
And when I can’t…well, I just try harder!
What I’ve realized though, is that if I’m struggling to cast my cares on the Lord, it’s likely because I don’t want to surrender to His control. I don’t want to “humble myself under His mighty hand,”
Matthew Henry wrote the statement below in his commentary on this passage and
while the Old English language is a little clunky,
the truths in the his statement are rich and meaningful.
“What difficulties will not the firm belief of his wisdom, power, and goodness get over! Then be humble under his hand. Cast all you care; personal cares, family cares, cares for the present, and cares for the future, for yourselves, for others, for the church, on God. These are burdensome, and often very sinful, when they arise from unbelief and distrust, when they torture and distract the mind, unfit us for duties, and hinder our delight in the service of God. The remedy is, to cast our care upon God, and leave every event to his wise and gracious disposal. Firm belief that the Divine will and counsels are right, calms the spirit of a man. Truly the godly too often forget this, and fret themselves to no purpose.” (emphasis mine)
You see, if we will put our trust in God’s wisdom, power, and goodness, then we can endure great difficulties. However, as Matthew Henry says, our cares will be burdensome and sometimes even sinful when we are unwilling to cast them upon the Lord.
“The remedy is to cast our care upon God, and leave every event to his wise and gracious disposal.” - that is humbling ourselves under His mighty hand!
This then reminds me of a verse I read recently in Isaiah 26
You will keep the mind that is dependent on you
in perfect peace,
for it is trusting in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!
(Isa. 26:3-4 CSB)
Isaiah says that we can have a mind that is in perfect peace, if we will trust in the Lord!
And isn’t that the goal of casting our cares? Isn’t that what we’re hoping for!?
I think the “Cares Chorus” will never be quite the same for me. It carries more weight now, more responsibility.
I think I’ll sing this song with a greater sense of surrender, trusting myself completely to God’s care.
My circumstances may remain painful, but my mind CAN be at peace if I will depend on my very mighty God, casting my cares upon Him because He cares about me!
What about you? Are you willing to humble yourself under God’s mighty hand? Do you find it challenging to cast your cares on the Lord? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!
