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. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(1 Peter 5:6-11 NKJV)
As I was praying for God to deliver me from a problem that I was facing this week, God directed me to this scripture. I have read it many times and even preached on it, but as I was reading it this time, God spoke to me and showed me something that opened my eyes to a new revelation about casting your cares upon Him.
I have always looked at that scripture and thought if I cast my cares on God, my part was over, God would just take care of my problem and my part was done. I did the casting, He did what needed to be done, and that was it. But after reading more closely, I see Peter and believe God had a different idea in these verses.
What Are The Cares We Are To Cast On God?
First we must look at the word casting. What is Peter saying here? To just give up? I don’t believe that is in the context of the verse. The context of the verse says God will help us with our cares. So then I wanted to know, what are the cares we are to cast on God, who cares for us, and finally how long till something happens about my cares I have cast.
Now let us look at the cares of this life and what the work of these cares can do in our spiritual life.
“Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
(Matthew 13:22 NKJV)“Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
(Luke 8:14 NKJV)“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
(Luke 21:34 NKJV)
The Cares we are to cast on God can be anything that takes our attention from God’s Word, or that can interfere with our relationship with God. Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:29-30 to take His yoke upon us and learn of him, and by doing this he can help us with the cares of this life.
Next we must find the way to cast these cares to God. We know that there are many cares in this life, so how do we cast them on God? First, we must realize that casting our cares on God does not mean that we don’t have to deal with them, or even that God will take them from us. We just know He will help us with these cares.
God Will Use These Cares For His Glory And To Keep Us Humble
Paul said he asked God three times in 2 Corinthians 12:8 to remove his thorn in the flesh, but God did not remove it, but said His grace and strength was enough to give God glory through Paul’s life, and to keep Paul humble. So we see that God will use these cares to bring God glory and to keep us humble. He also said it would help us to be perfect, established, strengthened, and settled in verse 10 of our text.
Finally, how long will it take for God to take care of the cares I cast on Him? Notice Peter uses words like in “due time”, then in verse 10 he says “after you have suffered a while”. The length of time will be determined by the attitude I have, the ability I have to resist the devil, and stand in faith.