No Fishing Allowed!

“Cast thy burden
upon
the LORD,
and
he shall
sustain thee:”
Psalm 55:22

Recently I shared how the Lord gave me four verses to “work on” throughout this New Year.  I also shared that I was almost positive that He would add more verses to that list as the year went on.  Well He has!!  In fact, He has already added TWO more verses!  I can’t imagine how many verses there will be on the list by December 31^st!  But I’m thankful that He has already added more verses, because His desire for my life, and my desire for my life, is found in

John 3:30
“He must increase,
but I must decrease.”

Today, I’d like to share with you the very first verse that the Lord gave to me for this New Year.

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” I Peter 5:7

YES, if you’re thinking, “well, that’s the verse at the top of this website!” 

You are absolutely correct! 

You would think that I would have this verse “down pat”, after all I do have a website based upon it!

I’m a pro at quoting this verse to others and even to myself.  I often include it in the cards which I make and write it in e-mails which I send and even include it after my signature! 

BUT do I REALLY put it into practice?

Do I REALLY cast ALL my cares upon the Lord?

I’m sure that by now you have read the definition of “all”. 

“All is all and that’s all that all means”  

Or if you would prefer a legitimate definition from the Webster's Dictionary, here ya go:
"Every one, or the whole number of particulars; Wholly; completely; entirely."

So DO I cast ALL my cares upon the Lord or only the “big stuff” and think that I can handle all the “small stuff”?  Which is rather foolish when you really stop and think about it, because WHO determines exactly what is the “big stuff” and what is the “small stuff”?  I guess it would vary from person to person, which is even more foolish!!

The verse says, “Casting all your care”. 

What does it mean to “cast”?

A definition from The Webster Dictionary:  “To throw, fling or send; that is, to drive from, by force.”

"Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." Genesis 21:10

"Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."  John 8:59

"And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes."  John 21:6

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"  II Corinthians 10:5 

"The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."  Revelation 4:10-11

When I think of casting, I think of my husband who loves to go fishing.  He first puts bait on the end of his fishing hook, and then casts his fishing pole into the depths of the water.  

And then he waits.  And hopefully when he reels in his line, the bait is gone and there will be a ginormous fish there instead!  

Well, spiritually I look at it this way.  Instead of putting bait on the end of our hook, we put our cares on the end of the hook.  ALL of our cares.  Big, small and in-between! 

And instead of casting them into the depths of the sea, we cast them onto the Lord.  But unlike fishing, where you must wait until you feel a tug on your line to reel it back in, we don’t need to EVER wait on the Lord.  We cast ALL of our cares on the Lord, and we can reel our line back in IMMEDIATELY and what will we find at the end of our hook?  Well, our cares will be gone and they will be replaced by God’s peace, God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s joy, God’s strength, God’s wisdom.

What ever it is we need from God! 

Isn’t that WONDERFUL?!

BUT how many times do I reel my line back in just to find that my cares are still dangling on that hook? 

It’s not the Lord’s fault they are still there.  He is more than willing and more than ready to snatch them off that hook, BUT I must let them go.  Completely let them go.  Oh, I might let the Lord take them off the hook for a little bit, but then I go fishing in the “no fishing allowed” pond.  You know that place where my cares are supposed to be and I dig them back out, along with a few new ones, and I’m right back where I started from!  It’s a vicious cycle and it does NOT need to be this way.  The Lord tells us flat-out, “Casting all your care upon him”

And then He even goes one step further and tells us WHY we can cast all of our cares upon Him.  Because He cares for us.  The Lord of this entire universe cares about ME and He cares about YOU!  

That to me is truly amazing!!

"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:"
Psalm 139:17-18

"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
Matthew 10:30

WOW!!  I stand in complete AWE to know that the Lord, Who created EVERYTHING, cares about EVERYTHING that concerns me and He desires for me to cast ALL my cares upon Him. 

I have a really hard time
wrapping my mind
around that fact!
And that's what
makes Him God!!

I admit at times that I do struggle with casting ALL my cares upon Him.  I cast them and then take them back.  Or one of my biggest struggles is that I might FIRST cast them upon my husband or a friend and THEN cast them upon the Lord.  I certainly do believe there is definitely a time and a place for sharing burdens with others and praying one for another.

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
Galatians 6:2

But I should always cast my cares upon the Lord FIRST before I cast them upon anyone else.  

So remember,
once you cast
your cares
upon the Lord,
up goes
the sign
that says,
“No Fishing Allowed”!

 

Father, I thank You so very much that You are more than willing to take upon Yourself ALL of my cares, but it's up to me to give them to You.  Lord, it truly overwhelms me to think that You, the God of this entire universe, cares so much about me, that you have every one of my hairs on my head numbered. WOW, Lord, the words "thank you" don't even come close enough in telling You just how truly thankful I really am! Father, please forgive me for the times when I choose to cast my cares on others or when I choose to attempt to carry my burdens alone, when You are just waiting for me to cast them upon You. Thank You for being such a gracious, long suffering, loving and caring Father.
In Jesus' Name.  Amen."

Please watch
this video
and see what
the Lord
can do
when we
cast our cares
upon Him!

https://youtu.be/xID_t--BrqE

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May God Bless You,

Barb