First Epistle of Peter
HE CARES FOR YOU
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you"
The word "care" appears in this verse twice, but the first has a different meaning than the second. The two words are different in the Greek. The first has the meaning of "anxiety", while the second means "to be interested in" or "concerned about". It could be translated, "casting all your anxiety upon Him, for He is concerned about you."
Peter is once again quoting from the Old Testament – this time Psalm 55:22: "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee". Anxiety or worry is a great burden that no Christian need carry. The Lord is willing to carry our worries as well as our sins.
The story is told of the man walking along the road with a load on his back. He climbed into the wagon and sat down, but kept the load on his back. The driver said, "Put your bundle down in the box." "Oh, no sir", he said. "It is nice of you to give me a ride, but to make the horse carry the bundle is just too much." Many a child of God is like that; the Lord is carrying them, but they do not let Him carry their burdens.
Worry is a scourge on the human race and many literally worry themselves sick. Hospitals are crowded with folks who are there because of worry. A share of insanity is from it; it drives many to suicide; it is certainly a kill-joy. One cannot be happy with a mind filled with anxiety.
If one has a tendency to worry, something can always be found to worry about. People no doubt worry about money matters. Are they going to be able to get along? Will they be able to make payments on the house, on the car or furniture? Is the business going well? Perhaps they work on commission and a few bad weeks come along, and it worries them sick. Work is slowing down. Will they get laid off? They spend money too freely and cannot keep their heads above water. They worry themselves nearly to death. Rich men worry, too. Will their investments grow? Will they lose money in the stock market, etc.?
Then there are scores of other things such as a little pain in the stomach or a flutter of the heart. "Have I got a cancer?" "Maybe I will drop dead from heart failure." And so they fret and stew about it until they are almost ready to drop dead. Then perhaps the wife is ill or one of the children. Yes, it is easy to worry, isn't it? But remember, for a Christian to worry is to deny the power and love of God.
If anyone had reason to worry, it was those Christians to whom Peter was writing. They were suffering severe persecution. At times they were slandered, abused, imprisoned, some even killed. If your life was in constant danger, would you worry? But Peter said to them, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you".
"Casting" has the sense of "casting once for all"; not to cast each care upon Him as it comes along; but just leave yourself and all your worries in His lap once for all. This is not easy to do. Many take their cares to the Lord in prayer, only to pick them up again. The hymn says, "Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there".
It is well to notice the context of this verse. The fifth and sixth verses speak of submission and humility. One who is humble and submissive is not likely to be bothered with much anxiety. A stubborn man or a proud man will have much to worry about, because he will not be in favor with God or man.
One has said, "Care is a burden that faith casts upon God". Faith is the opposite of worry. If one is trusting in the Lord, he is not worrying. If one is worrying, he is not trusting in the Lord. We can safely leave all in His hands. Is He not our Father? Does a little child worry? No, he just trusts his parents to supply every need. Does not our Father care more for us than any earthly father?
The Lord Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat. The wind arises and with it the waves. It gets worse and worse – the boat starts to fill with water. The disciples were worried. If you were there, would you worry? They awake Him from His sleep and say, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38). He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace, be still". The wind ceased and there was a great calm. Notice what He says to them in verse 40, "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?"
Our seas are not always going to be calm. The storms of life will sweep over us at times. Are we going to worry, stew, be anxious and afraid? If so, He will also say to us, "How is it that ye have no faith?" When we worry, does it not prove that we lack trust? Because when we trust we do not worry. We are sure to have our ups and downs in life, but He knows all about them and He cares.
Some might conclude from the fact that we can cast our cares upon the Lord, that we can be careless or slothful. Of course, this is not true. The Scripture abundantly testifies that we should be diligent and be the best we can possibly be; but then when things do not turn out as we had hoped, we are not to fret or worry about it. We have all seen people who were carefree, but at the same time careless and slothful. This we must not be (read Prov. 24:30-34; Rom. 12:8, 11).
Many a heart aches because, "Nobody cares for me". The human heart craves love and if it receives none anxiety is caused. A Christian need never feel that "nobody loves me" because Jesus Christ cares for him. If no one else on earth cares, the Lord does. After all, if He cares what matters the rest? If humans do not offer love, let us make sure it is not our own fault. If we are loveable, others will love us.
Cares of this world have a bad effect on the work of the Lord. They keep many from trusting Christ. In fact, the effectiveness of a Christian's testimony is often hindered by it. We read in Matthew 13:22, "And the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful". This is true of the unsaved. They hear the gospel, but there is no room for it because their mind is so occupied with the cares of this world. Christians, too, often get so occupied with the things of this life that they have no time to study and mediate on the Word of God – no time to carry out its precepts. Also, many are so anxious about temporal things that they dare not give much of their means to the work of the Lord and so the work suffers. This is a serious mistake, because certainly if we take care of the Lord's work, He will take care of ours.
Then, if we have a realization of His care we leave our things in His hands, providing freedom to put more time into His work.
Matthew 6:25-34 is a notable portion in this connection. Notice, twice the Lord calls His Father, "Your heavenly Father". With such a Father, need we worry? We have the expression "take no thought" often. At the time the King James Version was written this meant, "be not anxious". The Revised Version has it so. It is a plain command of the Lord and should be obeyed. He gives the example of the birds – how the Lord feeds and clothes them. Will He not also feed us? Then
He says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow" and how beautiful they are, and without worry. "Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Worry does not help the situation. "Which of you by taking thought (being anxious) can add one cubit unto his stature?" (v. 27). It is unchristian to worry. "For after all these things do the Gentiles seek" (v. 32). Finally, "Be not therefore anxious, for the morrow; for the morrow will be anxious for itself" (Matt. 6:34 RV).
Listed below are a few thoughts regarding getting rid of worry:
First, contemplate the greatness of God. Think about His great love and power – that this great and loving One is our Father. His tender care is better than that of a mother.
Second, try to see His hand in everything that happens; in the good as well as the bad. The bad, as well as the good, He permits for our blessing.
Third, take everything to Him in prayer. Pray about the little things as well as the big. Often it is the little things that cause more worry. Many of us fail to leave the little things of everyday life in His hands.
Fourth, let us try our utmost to forget tomorrow. It is all right to plan for tomorrow, but do not worry about it. The Lord has taken care of our past very well. We can leave our future in His hands, too. Thinking about the worst that can happen only shortens our journey – hastening us to our eternal home.
If worry is weighing us down, seek relief in the Lord. Once we rid ourselves of the load, we will feel as light as a bird. Even when we are grieving from the loss of a loved one, there is not the slightest need to worry, because:
SOMEONE CARES
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you
in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
(1 Peter 5:6, 7)
When all physical aid has failed us and every effort of man has spent itself in arduous labor to
save our loved one from leaving us –
Someone Cares.
When others go about their daily tasks unmindful of that empty aching feeling in our hearts
seeing not the tears that wet our pillows –
Someone Cares.
When dearest friends have long since forgotten and even our young, life-seeking children have
buried their grief in new horizons, and emptiness still tugs at our hearts –
Someone Cares.
When in the years to come well-meaning friends unwittingly stir the cinders of the past, thinking
surely we have forgotten –
Someone Cares.
And this SOMEONE knows what suffering is; He knows the broken heart, for His was broken.
He knows the forsaken life, for His was forsaken so that we might have eternal life – oh yes –
Someone Cares.
SOMEONE who sees beyond this brief span of life and has prepared, for those who love Him, a
mansion in eternity where no tears shall wet our cheeks nor death close its doors on loved ones –
Someone Cares.
SOMEONE who said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even
though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” –
Someone Cares.
JESUS CHRIST is that SOMEONE WHO CARES. He is able to take our hands out of the clasp
of the cold hand of death and lift us softly across, placing our hands in the
hands of loved ones who have gone before us – truly,
Someone Cares.
