Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a devotional on this same passage. [You can read it here.]
What does it mean to cast?
As I was reflecting on this passage after posting that previous post, I thought more deeply on the word cast.
In the picture for the original post, you can see a man casting a fishing pole. I fish a lot. I enjoy being out in the morning when the air is still cool. I have spent many mornings on the shore of a lake, pond, or river, and over the years, I have probably cast my rods thousands of times.
As I thought about the word cast, I realized that in our lives, we often choose a passive action rather than an active one.
When I go fishing, I don’t take my rod, hold it out over the water, unlatch the reel, and drop the bait 2 feet in front of me. I don’t consider that casting… When I cast, I fling my rod as fast and hard as I can. For those of you who may fish regularly, you can imagine the many backlashes and bird’s nests i’ve had over the years.
There is something especially thrilling about making a great cast and getting your bait all the way across the pond or body of water you are fishing. I’m not an expert fisherman so this is not a common occurrence for me, but when it happens I have the best feeling wash over me.
Sadly, I am slow to cast my cares on God.
Even as a pastor, I frequently hold on to my problems. Sometimes, I hold them loosely in my hands and say to God, “God, here are my problems. Can you take these?”
I’m sure you understand this. We have faith that God can hear us. We have faith that God can heal us. We have faith that God can fix our problems, but we don’t actually give them over to him. We keep holding them in our hands, sometimes, so ever loosely.
Hear this encouragement...
God can handle your problems.
CAST… Throw them to him. Don’t hold on to them any longer. Don’t continue to keep hold of these painful worries. Throw them away.
Cast them on the Lord and he will sustain you. That is the hope of the psalmist and the hope of those who put their faith in the Lord.
Two Questions for you:
What areas of your life are you holding on to worries? What would it look like if you truly gave those things over to God?