1 Peter 5:7
Peter does not introduce something new here. He continues what he has already said.
“Humble yourselves… casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.”
Casting is not separate from humility. It is how humility activates- what it looks like to step out from under the weight of control and place yourself fully under the mighty hand of God.
The word Peter uses for anxiety means more than worry. It carries the idea of being divided, pulled in different directions at once. Anxiety scatters the mind. It stretches you between what is and what might be. It fills the present with the pressure of a future you cannot control.
And then Peter uses a different word when he says God cares for you. While anxiety divides you, God’s care attends to you. Your mind is pulled apart. God’s attention is steady. What fractures you is fully held by Him.
This is why casting matters.
Casting is not pretending things are fine. It is not ignoring responsibility. It is not minimizing what you feel. It is taking what is dividing you and placing it into hands that are not divided. It is the decision to stop carrying what only God can carry.
Because He cares for you.
Not in a distant or general way. Not in a vague or conditional way. You matter to Him. You are on His mind. It’s impossible for you not to matter because you are made of matter, the matter He created. The God who formed you has not lost interest in what concerns you. The weight you feel is not an interruption to Him. It is an invitation to bring it closer.
Religion will tell us that our lack of faith, our struggle, the messy, most sinful parts of our lives repel God, Peter reminds us the opposite is true- it attracts God to us, his care for us, for this is the reason that Jesus died for us.
Anxiety tells you it all depends on you.
God’s care reminds you that you matter to Him.
Casting is the moment you believe that is true.
Let’s pray:
Father, we confess how easily our minds become divided and our hearts become heavy. Teach us to cast what we carry onto You. Help us trust that Your care is steady and personal. Remind us that we matter to You, and give us the courage to release what is not ours to hold. Keep us anchored in Your care and free from the weight that pulls us apart. In Jesus’ name, amen.
