God Speaking

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

My husband has loved any sort of fishing since he was a little boy and when we came to Canada he indulged in every kind of fishing offered here in British Columbia, from salmon catching in the open ocean, to trout fishing in streams, to ice fishing on frozen lakes. Eventually he was able to live one of his dreams when we bought a cabin which was beside a beautiful lake stocked with trout. He longed to pass on this passion of his to his grandchildren and when each child was able to hold a fishing rod, he taught them the delicate art of casting for trout. Many beautiful summer days were spent practising just the right movements to catch that elusive trout. One particular day, there was a shriek of excitement as one little one caught her first fish. Her grandfather explained that it was a small fish and he would release it back into the lake, but she was horrified!! She wanted to hold on to her catch, eventually he relented and gave her the fish to hold and hold it she did. She would not let it out of her hand and by the end of the day it was stiff and dirty and not very pleasant to look at.

I was thinking about this day, when we read the verse from 1 Peter in our Bible Study, about casting our anxiety on the Lord. Casting means to throw as far as you can, and away from you. The Lord is asking us to take hold of all our fears, doubts, worry and allow him to take care of them, but time and time again we are like my little granddaughter, we are reluctant to release our anxiety, and keep taking it back so it festers and becomes worse than before.

Most of my anxiety seems to lodge in my mind, and troubling thoughts override my peace and tranquility. I was fascinated to find that King David, thousands of years ago, was beset by the same problem;

“Listen to my prayer, O’ God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught.” (Psalm 55:1 – 2)

As these intrusive thoughts take over David’s mind he tries to escape them using his own methods.

“I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.” (Psalm 55:7 – 8)

I, and I am sure countless others, have tried to deal with anxiety in our own way. We read the health magazines and try all their suggestions of training the mind to think of peaceful thoughts and David was away ahead of them when he tried this;

“I said, Oh, that I had the wings of a dove, I would fly away and be at rest.” (Psalm 55:6)

Flying through the air like a dove does sound quite peaceful, but David eventually realises there is only one sure way to rid himself of ugly thoughts and suddenly remembers these wise words;

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” (Psalm 55:22)

The trick here is to practice our casting. Unless we are prepared to let go of all that is weighing us down, we will be left at the end of the day with our stale and ugly thoughts still with us.

One of the best way to cast, is to allow the Master to show us how, and we can do this by letting him teach us. He can only teach us if we seek his wisdom. Share with him in prayer what is troubling us. Be honest in front of him. Come into his presence with an open mind. Listen to what he is saying to us. Learn to trust him.

After all his agonising in Psalm 55, David is able to confidently conclude like this;

“…But as for me I trust in you.” (Psalm 55:23)

And when we perfect our casting, we also will say those words confidently.