Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Is it Ever Okay to Worry?

Short answer? Not for the Christian.

Then He said to His disciples: "Therefore I tell you, don't worry about your life ... 

Don't worry - it's not a suggestion, it's a command. You can read His words in context here. They are from the most famous sermon ever, The Sermon on the Mount. Basically, He is telling us to trust Him. He knows what we need and He has our best interest at heart.


God created us to have full abundant lives.  He doesn’t want us to be consumed with thoughts of things that are not our responsibility.  Our job is to trust.  His job is to provide.

But hey! We are human. Worry wants to sneak in. What if God doesn't notice or care about what is happening in my life?


Never fear, God will do His part. We are not to be filled with pride and think we can fix everything ourselves. Instead, we are to cast all our care on him!  Both the old and new testaments tell us this:
 “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22 HCSB

And

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 HCSB

Casting is not a passive word, it’s an active one.  You don’t limply hand your worry over – You vigorously sling it out there! 

The other day, a friend and I were discussing the principle of casting your care.

Cast to me is a fisherman's term. (God loves fisherman, as we know from His choosing of several fishermen to be His disciples.) A fisherman casts his rod out there – he doesn’t just plop it near his feet. Also, there is aim when a fisherman casts. He intends it to go to a certain area of the lake.

So the casting of our care takes effort, because it is so human to keep it ourselves and stew over it ... and think we are accomplishing something
We cast it upon the Lord, not just willy nilly over our backs ...
Also, when a fisherman casts, he has to LET IT GO!  I don't mean he lets go of the pole, he knows where it is, but he releases the reel to let the bait go. Now in Peter’s day, we know from the Word, that he cast nets. Throwing a net would be much more difficult and involve way more effort than a pole!

My final thought on this (for now!) is you let the bait go in hope of reaping a blessing in the form of a fish. We let the worry go and reap a blessing in answered prayer ... and in peace of mind.
When you can really believe He cares about YOU, worry won't be a problem.


~~~

What about you? Do you struggle with worry?
You might want to read my previous post on this topic:  Why Worry?


The Loft

I'm linking this post to the community at The Loft. This is a group of writers who are truly pressing in to the heart of God. This week's topic is a pot-luck - the writer can post any CHRISTIAN LIVING post of their choice. You can read their work, or join them with a post of your own, here.


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I'm also linking this post with the community at Grace and Truth. Because they are awesome.


You can find the links to visit, or link up a post of your own, at any of these great sites:



Satisfaction Through Christ
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The Brown Tribe
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Arabah Joy
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A Divine Encounter
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Sharing Redemption’s Stories
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Dawn Klinge – Above the Waves
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Aimee Imbeau – A Work of Grace
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8 comments:

  1. This is something we have to be reminded of over and over again!

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  2. I do get that he does care for me, I am just a worrier, so much part of my nature, need to work better on trust I do believe.

    Betty

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  3. Oh what a great post! I think we all worry sometimes. Or let things weigh us down. I'm doing that right now.
    But moving on...thank you for coming by and reading my review of A Daughter's Dream.I sent your sweet comment to the publicist. They love comments like that! I'd love for you to come over to my new blog and visit my other reviews. They are all in one place now. Here's the link:
    http://myreadingjourneys.blogspot.com/

    Please come see me and follow me there too. There's a follow button on the sidebar.

    Have a good day!

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  4. Wow! This is GOOD, GOOD! I had never pondered the idea of casting...how it is intentional. It is true that when we worry, we must be intentional about giving our worries to Jesus, otherwise they will swim right back to shore and swallow us whole like the fish did Jonah. Thanks for linking up such a great post at The Loft.

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  5. This was a truly great post! It's should speak to EVERYONE. Being a Christian, I still have times that I have to remind myself that He's got this. I don't need to be concerned. It's like talking someone away from the edge who is about to jump off. "come back, you don't need to do this".

    Thanks for sharing this great lesson!

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  6. Again. A great post. I use to worry so bad I would be filled with sleepless nights (that's why I wrote the post on "How do you face the dawn?" My mother was a worrier and her mother before her and down through the years. I got it righteously.

    But once someone said to me, "Chris, don't you get it? Worry is the opposite of faith. A prayer said in faith knocks your worry right out of your life." This helps me and helps me more when I sit down and read who God is. How can we worry when He is Sovereign. How can we worry when He knows the beginning from the end. How can we worry when He is our Shepard - our good Shepard. In Psalm 8:1 it says, "I love you, Lord. My strength."

    Man! you encouraged me today. Thank you. Chris

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  7. I love the analogy you made with casting! I had never considered that! I do know that "worry not" is the most often repeated command in the Bible. Worry does not reflect trust. Worry does not gain anything. Worry makes us sick and paralyzes us.
    Barbara, blogging at Life & Faith in Caneyhead

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  8. Love this. Our lady's study just wrapped up "Fearless" by Max Lucado and this just goes right along with it!

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