Casting Your Cares



Psalm 55:22  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

For those who grew up during the 1960s-1970s, you may remember the song “He's Got The Whole World In His Hands.”  The Lord does have the world in his hands.  He is the one who's holding the earth, planets, stars, moon, sun and others; otherwise they would fall.  Most Christians know that God is holding us, that he'll carry our burdens.  But what does this verse for today really mean?

First, let's look at the definitions of some words.  In the dictionary, cast means to throw. Burden means anxiety, or cares of this world.  So we're going to throw our cares or anxiety onto the Lord.  Unlike me when I was young and would miss the ball my father threw to me, God doesn't miss the cares we throw at him.  Trust me, he will catch them.

Another word we need the definition for is sustain. Sustain means to hold or bear up. In other words, the Lord will catch our burdens in his hands.  And not only will he catch them, but he won't drop them.  Not only will he hold our burdens, but he will also hold us up under the burdens.  We won't stagger around because they're so heavy.  He will hold us and the burdens. 


Does that mean we stop caring what happens to family, friends, or the situation we're currently dealing with? No.  We'll continue to pray for God's will to be done in the situation.  But the load will be lighter. When I taught Sunday School years ago, I told them it was easy to give our cares to Jesus.  And it is easy.  So why is it hard?  Because we take the burdens back from the Lord.

When we do this, we are in fact telling him we don't trust him to carry those burdens for us.  That's when it becomes hard to handle the burdens ourselves. During my younger days, I didn't worry about anything.  I simply trusted the Lord to take care of the situation.  But I didn't ask him to take the burden, or handle the situation.  I took for granted he had it in his hands and I had no need to worry about it. 

Unfortunately, life took over as an adult.  But I have learned over the years God wants us to call upon him and ask for wisdom and guidance.  He wants to make it easier for us.  And he wants us to trust him in everything that comes into our life.

If you're dealing with the enemy's arrows and attacks, please give it to the Lord.  He will defeat the enemy for you.  He'll give you the strength to continue on through the battles of life.  And I guarantee he will catch our burdens and he will hold them.  And we won't have to stagger under the load.