Cast Your Care

[0:00] My message today is about casting your care. Casting your care.

[0:16] 1 Peter 5, verses 6 to 11.! It says, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.! Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.

[0:30] Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

[0:47] But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

[1:05] It says, Casting all your care upon Him. Casting all your care upon Him. Burdens are lifted at Calvary.

[1:17] Cast your care upon Jesus today. What are you carrying today? There could be some carrying heavy loads even today. Heavy burdens. Heavy cares.

[1:29] What is your care? What is your concern? Could it be the burden of sin? Could it be the burden of grief? Perhaps the burden of unemployment, of people in your life giving you grief.

[1:43] Could it be ill health? Cast your care upon Jesus today. Cares. Cares. It means worries. It means concerns. It means anxieties.

[1:54] You know, doctors tell us that worrying can be harmful for our health. Medical experts say that worry or anxiety can lead to severe physical problems.

[2:05] When people have worries and can produce ulcers or headaches, backaches, changes of blood pressure, heart attacks and depression. Worrying can become crippling if it is not properly controlled.

[2:20] Worrying can also harm your spiritual health. When worries confront and consume your thoughts, you can tend to get focused on those things.

[2:31] So much so that it takes away from your concern for the things of God, for the attention to the Lord and His will. Worrying can take you away from prayer.

[2:42] Worrying can take you away from worship, from studying God's Word. Worrying can take God's peace away from us. Worrying can affect the way that you treat other people because you're so fretting and fussing and loaded down.

[2:58] When we worry, we can tend to be harsher with other people in our lives, with our family, with our friends, our co-workers. We can get so wrapped up with our worries that we lash out at those that we love the most.

[3:11] Worrying doesn't accomplish much. Someone has said that worrying is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere. Worrying is not good for you.

[3:24] It's not healthy and it doesn't achieve anything. So what does God's Word tell us to do with our worries? What does God say to you, to me, to do with our cares, to do with our worries?

[3:36] What are we to do? It says, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

[3:48] God gives a prescription for what we are to do with worry. Now, I thought I should probably bring some objects to throw around today just to demonstrate sort of visibly what to do.

[4:01] But you can imagine, if I had something, it says, cast it. Cast it. It means to throw it. Oh, Paul caught it at the back there. That's good, Paul.

[4:13] Cast it. It means to fling it away. It means to throw it away. It means to chuck it, to throw it with force, to throw it away. That's what God tells you to do with your cares.

[4:25] That's what God tells us to do with our worries. You know, we can all experience worries. You know, is there anyone here who doesn't have any worries? No. You know, the Aussie saying is no worries, but we know that everyone has worries to some degree.

[4:41] We have some concerns. You know, there's people here that might be quite concerned about something, and you wouldn't even know it by looking at them. They might look quite fine and cool.

[4:51] But, you know, pressures are all about us, and in everybody's lives, no matter how rich or poor, or how healthy or unhealthy you might be, you've got some worries.

[5:02] Let's face it. Whether it's pressures of business cares, of work or study commitments, of cares of friends, of bills to pay, of family responsibilities, of ill health, of job concerns.

[5:17] Your worries are manifold. It could concern disappointments from the past, or fears for the future, or the pain of the present.

[5:31] Someone has written about worries, and they made this calculation. I don't know how accurate this is, but this is what they said. What people worry about. What the average person's anxiety and concerns are about.

[5:43] And they're focused in these several different ways. 40% of your worries, of the average person's worries, 40% are about things that will never happen.

[6:00] They'll never happen. You know, you're worrying about something in the future, it's not even going to happen. 30% are worried about things about the past. Things about the past that can't be changed.

[6:12] It's already happened. There's no point even breaking up all that old stuff. 12% are things about criticism by others. Mostly untrue.

[6:23] You know, what others are saying about you. Behind your back or maybe to your face. But it's not true anyway, so why worry about it? 10% of worry is about your health.

[6:34] Which gets worse with stress, so don't do it. You know, and 8% of real worries, of real problems that we will face. So it's only about 8% of worry is about real problems that you will face.

[6:47] So sometimes if you really, you know, mathematically look at it all, there's not a lot of achievement from worrying. You know, some people say lots of things about worrying.

[6:58] Here's some statements about worrying. They've said these things. Worry gives a small thing a big shadow. It's true, isn't it? A small thing can have a big shadow.

[7:11] The more you worry and fret and concern yourself about it. Worry is the interest we pay on tomorrow's troubles. Worry over tomorrow pulls shadows over today's sunshine.

[7:25] Oswald Chambers said, Worry is an indication that we think God cannot look after us. That's a big one, isn't it? When you worry, you're saying God's not big enough to handle your problems, to look after your concerns.

[7:40] Worry is putting question marks where God has put a full stop. Worry is the interest we pay on tomorrow's troubles. Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow.

[7:52] It only saps today of its strength. And one more worry is practical atheism and an affront to God. It's saying you don't believe God when you're concerned, when you're loaded down with worry and anxiety.

[8:09] Now, true enough, people are hurting and have got cares and worries. Some are very loaded up with such things. What does it tell you? We read that it says, Casting all your care.

[8:23] Casting all your care. Now, some will say, Yes, I'm going to cast all my care. I'm going to cast all my care on alcohol.

[8:34] I'm going to cast all my care on the bottle. That'll see me through. That'll dull my pain. That'll take away the anxiety from my mind.

[8:45] But they're just left with a hangover. Casting all my care upon meds. Maybe it's medication. Maybe it's something that I can take. Casting all your care upon politicians.

[8:58] We know how good they are at the moment, don't we? The politicians of our nation. Maybe it's casting all your care on self-help. You know, self-esteem or some new age guru is going to talk you into feeling better about yourself.

[9:13] Maybe it's casting all your care upon the cross lotto. Could that be the answer? No. It says, Casting all your care in faith upon Him.

[9:25] Upon Him. Upon Christ, your Lord. Casting all your care upon Him. In faith. You know, God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

[9:38] It says in Romans 12, verse 3, In faith. By faith. You can decide by faith to cast all, all, all. As Frank said before, all means all your care upon Him.

[9:55] Whatever it be, whether it be money concerns or health, sorrow, whether you're concerned about unsaved family or children, family members, whether you're concerned about what lies ahead down the track.

[10:09] There could be some confronting things facing you. Real things, certainly. But God is already in you. future. God is already there. God is already preparing the future.

[10:22] And it's a matter of surrendering everything to God's will. Surrendering everything to His care. Job lost everything. Job lost everything.

[10:35] Yet he said, The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He still blessed God.

[10:47] He still gave praise. The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He cast His care upon the Lord.

[10:58] That is where He placed His concern. That is where He threw His anxiety, where He flung it, where He threw it, where He cast it. And sometimes the day-to-day worries and cares of life can consume us so much that they take away from the present day.

[11:17] Our Lord said in Matthew 6 verse 26, He says, Behold, He says, Look at the fowls of the air. Behold them. For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns.

[11:29] Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? Think of the birds.

[11:40] They are careful. They go about their lives. And the Father, the heavenly Father cares for the sparrows. He cares for the fowls of the air.

[11:51] And He says to us that He counts the very hairs of our hair. You know, He's getting less of them to count every day for me. But, you know, He counts the hairs of our hair, doesn't He?

[12:02] He knows every intimate detail of your life and mine. And we can trust Him. We can trust Him. He knows you. He knows you through and through. He knows everything about you.

[12:14] And He knows your future as well as your past. And He hears you when you cry as He heard the people of God in Exodus 3, verse 7.

[12:24] And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt. And I've heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters for I know their sorrows.

[12:36] As they labored in Egypt as slaves, as captives chained and slaving away for the Egyptian taskmasters under the heavy wick.

[12:51] I know their sorrows. God says to you, I know your sorrows. He hurts when we hurt. As we read in Hebrews 4, verse 15, of our great high priest, he is not one who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.

[13:15] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain help, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[13:28] He knows when we hurt. He's not some removed and distant God. He's very much present and involved and he can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.

[13:42] He hurts when we hurt and he helps when we are in trouble. In Psalm 20, it says, The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend thee, send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion.

[14:00] The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. Psalm 20, verse 1. There's so many promises about times of trouble and what God is about in such times.

[14:12] The word tells us of a great sustaining power that he has over you. In Psalm 55, 22, it says, Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee.

[14:26] He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. There's promises there, promises for you, for me.

[14:40] He shall sustain thee. He promises to. Casting all your care. How do we do that? How do we cast our care?

[14:51] What does it mean, casting your care? We could see Daniel in Daniel 6, verse 16. It says that they cast Daniel into the den of lions.

[15:02] They cast him. The king's men got hold of Daniel, as it were, by the nape of his neck and they flung him into the lion's den. It took some action on their part, but they did it.

[15:14] Of course, we know the Lord protected him and saved him. The king's men threw him, cast him into the lion's den. Jonah 1, 15, it says that the sailors, when they realised Jonah was the cause of their concerns, they cast him forth into the sea.

[15:31] Jonah 1, verse 15, the sailors grabbed a hold of Jonah and they physically threw him overboard into the sea. It took some action on their part, but they did it.

[15:44] In Matthew 4, verse 12, Jesus heard that John was cast into prison. The guards got hold of John the Baptist and they threw him into that prison cell.

[15:56] They threw him through the door. I don't know if they got him by the seat of the pants as they threw him in, but they threw him in. They cast him into the prison. That's what they did with John the Baptist. God says, cast your burden upon the Lord.

[16:09] God says, casting all your care upon him. One day in Revelation 20, verse 10, it says what God is going to do with the devil. Revelation 20, verse 10, it says, the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.

[16:27] That's going to be a good day, amen? That's going to be a good day when the devil gets cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. The Lord Jesus is going to grab the devil, as it were, by the scruff of his neck, and he's going to cast him, as it were, into that very real lake of fire and brimstone.

[16:46] It will take some action on the Lord's part, but he will do it. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. Take that burden and grab it by the scruff of the neck, grab it by the seat of the pants, as it were, and cast your burden, cast your burden, cast your burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee, casting all your care upon him.

[17:14] Throw it upon him today. It takes some action on your part, but you can cast your burden upon the Lord. You can cast your burden, or you can keep your burden.

[17:28] You can keep your burden. You can keep that burden. You can keep that worry. You can keep that fear, that concern for the future, but worry wounds the heart of God.

[17:40] To worry about his provision is to doubt his power. To worry about his provision is to doubt his power.

[17:50] Worry is the opposite of faith. The Lord tells us that he is the great burden bearer. Isaiah 53.3 It says, Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

[18:05] Yet we get esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Isaiah 53.3 Psalm 68.19 It says, Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits.

[18:23] Even the God of our salvation. Selah. Blessed be the Lord. He daily loadeth us with benefits. There are some good burdens that God gives to us.

[18:34] Burdens for souls. Burdens for the things of God. To be loaded with the benefits of salvation, of knowing him, of growing in him.

[18:46] God takes personal care. He daily loadeth us with benefits. You know, the scriptures that are very personal. He loved me and he gave himself for me. You can put your name there.

[19:00] He loved Emmy and he gave himself for Emmy. He loved me and he gave himself for me. He loved friend and he gave himself for friend.

[19:16] Casting all your care upon him. for he careth for you. That's for you. Why? Because he cares for you. He cares for you. The verb cares here is in the present continuous tense.

[19:33] It means that God always and continually cares about us. He continually cares. He cares moment by moment.

[19:45] His faithfulness is unchanging. His love is forever. His faithfulness is new every morning. The Lord Jesus cares for you.

[19:56] The Lord Jesus cares for you. He cares for you continually. Continually. He doesn't clock off. He doesn't slumber or sleep.

[20:07] He's continually caring. He's continually watching over us. And he's touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Many years ago there was a businessman called Penny.

[20:21] And he was a wealthy man. But his business was unstable. And he began to worry. So much so that he's having sleepless nights. Penny was worrying and lacking sleep so much that he contracted shingles.

[20:35] shingles. Which is certainly a very severe pain. Some have said the most severe pain known to man. I've heard it said that it's almost like the pain of child birth.

[20:47] And men can get this one. So I'm glad I don't have the other one. But I hope I don't get shingles either. But I know my dad went through a great deal of trouble with shingles as well.

[20:59] But Penny was so worrying and concerned that he got shingles. And he went to hospital and they gave him all kinds of medicine to try to tranquilize him.

[21:09] But it was no help. He still worried and worried. Day by day worried and worried about his business. And one night he felt he was so bad he thought he was going to die the next morning.

[21:21] He thought look I'm going to write some farewells to the people and matter in my life. To my son and my wife and my friends. But by next morning as he was lying in bed he heard some singing from the chapel.

[21:34] So I'm singing from the hospital chapel next door and the song went like this. It said no matter what may be the test God will take care of you.

[21:47] No matter what the test God will take care of you. And suddenly Penny rose up and he thought to himself it's real it's real. God loves and cares for me.

[21:59] And in no time at all he jumped out of his bed and ran into the chapel. And it's like a miracle happened in his soul. As if a little bird was suddenly set free. He cast his burden upon the Lord.

[22:15] Many scriptures give us this same message. In Psalm 37 it says impart trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed.

[22:29] It says trust in the Lord. It says delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Delight yourself in the Lord.

[22:40] It says commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. And then it goes on verse 7 to say rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.

[22:55] Trust him delight in him commit your way to him and rest in the Lord. Trust God in those hard times. Find ways that you can cast your burden upon the Lord.

[23:07] It could be through prayer could be through studying God's promises and realising them putting your name there as it were. Let the Lord carry the burden for you. Stop carrying it yourself.

[23:19] Stop cherishing it and hanging on to it give it to him to carry. Often the deepest and heaviest burdens that men and women carry cannot be seen with the human eye.

[23:31] There could be people here today that are more loaded down than you realise today. Spend time to talk to someone today. Encourage. Share one another's burdens.

[23:43] Do you trust him? Do you trust him or do you! his power to sustain him? Do you doubt his ability to help you? Transfer your cares, your anxieties to him, your sorrows, your hurts, your fears.

[23:59] He cares for you. It is his promise. A closing illustration. There was an older Christian lady, an older Christian lady, her Bible was full of notes where she written and marked her Bible.

[24:14] That's a good thing to do. Get your Bible and underline it. Make it personal. Grab a hold of the promises of God. This is what this older lady did. One day her pastor came and he saw that in her Bible, in the margin of her Bible, she had written the letters T and P besides several of the verses.

[24:39] He wondered what does this mean? He came up to her and he asked her one day what does T and P mean in your Bible and she said tried and proven for I have tried him and I proved him and I found him to be true.

[24:56] Tried and proven there's many exceeding great and precious promises and they're tried and proven they can be tried and proven through those times of trial through those times when you're carrying some cares when you're having some worries and doubts and fears be careful for nothing in other words don't be full of care about anything but in everything pray in everything give thanks in everything make your request known to God be careful be full of care about nothing but let your request be made known unto God prayer is a key for your burdens today the tried and proven promises are for you they're for you casting all your care upon him for he careth for you search the scriptures make them personal apply them by the spirit of

[26:04] God to your situation let God's will be that which predominates your thinking trust your future to him commit your way to him and rest in the Lord take the saviour at his word he means what he says he cares for you he cares for you more than you can imagine more than we can comprehend pray through that time pray through that trial pray through those situations of care of concern and commit your situation to prayer Job said though he slay me yet will I trust him Job 13 verse 15 the psalmist said Psalm 56 11 in God have I put my trust I will not be afraid what man can do unto me in God have I put my trust and Psalm 62 8 it says trust in him at all times you people pour out your heart before him

[27:06] God is a refuge for us God is a refuge for us casting all your care not casting all your care on alcohol not casting all your care on the cross lotto not casting all your care on any kind of human health as much as that might be somehow but casting all your care upon the Lord for he careth for you I invite you to cast all your care upon him cast all your care upon him why for he careth for you!

[27:56] I go! I can't to tell have to time time time to Thank you.