‘Cast’ or ‘keep’
2021-06-281 Peter 5:7 NIV
When it comes to dealing with our fears and worries, we have two choices; cast them on the Lord, or keep them and try to handle them ourselves. When communists overran China, missionary Isobel Kuhn was forced to escape on foot across the snow-covered mountains into neighbouring Myanmar, where she was stranded with no money and no way to get home.
She wrote: ‘I cannot tell you the dismay and alarm that filled me,’ But she made two decisions. ‘The first thing is to cast out fear. The only fear a Christian should entertain is the fear of sin. All other fears are from Satan, sent to confuse and weaken us.’ So Isobel prayerfully trusted God. Second, she asked for God’s wisdom and guidance for the next steps to take, and eventually she arrived home safely.
Instead of living with our fears and allowing them to take root within us, we need to identify and confront them the moment we become aware of them. Next, we need to turn each fear into a prayer and give it to God, refusing to take it back, confident that He’ll handle it. We should do this with all our worries and fears, not just some of them. God wants us to share our big worries and the small ones with Him – nothing is beneath His notice. ‘Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully’ (v.7 AMPC).
We’ll never be entirely free of fear and worry, but we always have a loving God who’s ready to carry them for us.