“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:6–7

Does your anxiety live rent-free in your head? Well you’re not alone!

And yet we’re told in the book of 1 Peter, that we’re to “cast” our cares upon Jesus. But what does that look like? Alistair Begg did some digging into this ; “The Greek word for “cast” here is a decisive, energetic action word. It could be used to describe throwing out a bag of trash. We don’t put painstaking effort into moving it; we simply grab it and hurl it into the bin.” So, likewise, instead of going through our days weighed down by our anxieties, we are to throw it, hurl it, upon the Lord.

I remember hearing a pastor say that you should visualize carrying your anxiety in a suitcase, through the airport. Just lean down, he said, set your suitcases on the floor, then visualize standing upright and walking on, leaving the suitcase behind.

I thought, “what a lovely image. But how, exactly, can I do that? It just doesn’t seem that easy!” And the reason, as I have found over the years… is my pride. Perhaps that’s why the verse quoted above starts with the phrase, “Humble yourself…”

Maybe it’s not the same for you, but I have this innate desire to control and triumph over these things on my own. My struggle is having the humility to say to God, “I just can’t do it. I need you to carry these for me.“

I recently saw a survey that estimated 80% of adults in the United States experience anxiety on a regular basis. So we’re not alone! Each of us will eventually run into a circumstance that causes us to be anxious. It almost sounds hopeless.

But read the verse again. And then admit, “God I cannot do this on my own. Take this burden. I give it to you. It’s yours.“

Then, at the proper time, God will take your anxieties on himself and lift you up. Why? Because He is a perfect Father. And He cares for you.