Cares and Concerns – What To Do
In this stressful age we are living in, so many of us worry and become anxious about things – big and small. Many experience depression from too much of that. Some of us are addicted to worry, so to speak, as if we would feel lost for something to do if we did not have our worry-time each day. But scripture has a few things to say about this.
I am sure that you will go away from this post feeling lighter and comforted with a better understanding of what to do with cares and concerns – those things that worry you. Ask The Lord to make the following principles and examples of scripture clear to you, so you can really benefit from what you read.
Come with me!
1 Peter 5:7 in the New Testament says
New
Living Translation
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
World English
Bible
Casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
Weymouth
New Testament
Throw the whole of your anxiety upon Him, because He Himself cares for you.
I did a quick research of Psalm 55:23 and found the following paragraphs by three Jewish writers who know their scriptures.
Revised Standard Version
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Names of God Bible
Turn your burdens over to Yahweh, and he will take care of you. He will never let the righteous person stumble.
Cast Down Your Load!
Friends, you’ve been carrying that burden for far too long. Enough already! Cast it off, and let Hashem, Who lovingly carries you and your load, do His work.
Yankel the peddler would travel from town to town, peddling his wares. Day after day he would drag his heavy cases and chests full of goods across the mud-ridden roads. One day, the owner of the wagon, seeing Yankel plodding along, bowing under the weight of his baggage, had stopped his coach, and was inviting Yankel to come along with him for the ride into the next town. Yankel happily accepted, and dragged his baggage up onto the carriage. He took a seat, and the wagon again began to move.
A few minutes later, the wagon-owner noticed that Yankel, seated in the wagon, still carried his entire burden upon his shoulders. “Yankel,” he said, “why don’t you put your bags down?” Remember scripture says “You open Your hand, and satisfy the needs of every living thing.”
Let those of us with toilsome cares and weighty concerns wake up! Throw down your burden – and let Hashem, Who carries us and all our needs, do His work. This is precisely what David says in Psalms 55:23, “Throw your ‘baggage’ upon Hashem and He will sustain you.”
Hashem means God, in original Hebrew, the Bible was written in.
Psalm 55:23
The writer of this story explains that so many people act like the peddler. They carry heavy burdens in life unnecessarily. We must realize that Hashem is carrying us anyway let Him carry your burden as well. Note that Hashem is not like human beings. When a person asks his fellow for a favor, the fellow will likely be happy to do it. When he is asked a second and third time, he will likely agree to the favor, but with less enthusiasm. Already by the fourth time, though, he will likely say, “Enough already!” and refuse to help. Hashem isn’t like that. Whenever we “throw our burden” on Hashem, He responds favorably. Not only does He not get worn out by our repeated requests for help, but to the contrary, He gets closer to us the more we call out to Him. He loves when we ask Him for favors, and the more we ask, the more He loves to help us because we are looking to Him our Maker.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation and we wonder how it will ever work out; it seems impossible. We are so fortunate that we just need to turn to Hashem for help.
As the Torah says, whenever we call to Him, He is eagerly waiting to help us.
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed, having too much to do and not having any idea how it will all get done. A person told me he was given extra responsibilities at work, and the situation was just impossible. There were simply not enough hours in the day to complete all he needed to do. Suddenly, a two-hour period which he had reserved for a separate project freed up. It was unmistakably through the Hand of God, He didn’t lose any money, and now he has time to get everything done. No burden is too heavy for Hashem. We have the greatest source of help available to us at all times.
People sometimes think, “I don’t want to bother Hashem with this one; it’s too trivial a problem.” There’s no such thing as too trivial a problem. He can’t wait for us to come and ask Him for help. We can bring Him any “load” we have. And the more we have for Him to “carry,” the more He is willing to take on.
If we feel worried and anxious, this shows that we are still holding on to our bags, and refusing to put them down and let Hashem carry them for us.
Casting Your Burdens
“Cast your burden upon Hashem, and He will sustain you.” (Psalms 55:23)
Everyone in the world has burdens. Some are heavier than others – some are lighter. You cannot always tell how heavy someone else’s burden is; you only have the subjective experience of your own. But know, with clarity, that just as you have burdens, so does everyone else.
Here we have the ultimate advice on how to handle your burdens: do not do it alone. You never have to do it all yourself. As a matter of fact, it’s impossible to do it all yourself. You can call upon the Almighty, your Father, your King, Creator and Sustainer of the universe to help you. Our verse tells us that you can give over your entire load of baggage to Hashem, and He will sustain you.
(Growth Through Tehillim: Exploring Psalms for Life Transforming Thoughts, p. 129)
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The term ‘casting’ is used by people who go fishing at the riverside. They take their fishing rod with them that has a long line on a reel. When they are ready to catch a fish, They take a firm hold of the handle of the rod, they release the reel from a locked position and they fling the rod (in their hand of-course) over from behind them (position) to over in front of them, and the line goes into the water. The object of this exercise is to cast the weight on the end of the line as far as they can from them into the water.
Now there is something else to keep in mind here. The ‘Riverside is a pleasant and restful place, speaking of the Presence of The Lord. When we decide to “Cast our Cares on The Lord” (onto God) we do this best in the Presence of God. When we are at rest with Him (in His Presence) we find the confidence to let go of our problems – whatever is concerning us. Just like the person fishing, we need to cast the line as far as we can – without restraint, to get the best results. Some of us use a short line, so to speak, when we give our concerns to God. For us, without restraint means without reservation…… to know that He will take care of us…..He can handle it.
God’s shoulders are bigger than ours. We don’t have to wear a frown.
There is another scripture that speaks of casting our cares. It speaks of “Throwing off every weight that hinders us and run that race in God” just like an athlete will take off his weighty clothing and wear something light – the lighter the better – no heavy jeans and jackets, he/she must travel light for the best results.
Just like that big rainbow fish or ribbons at the finish of a race…….The Lord can also bring blessing and a sense of accomplishment our way, when we cast our cares on Him and commit our way to Him.
His word says that “He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”…..it takes diligence to commit every care and concern to God…..aye? Remember, it is best if you do this by the riverside.
Be decided in your heart, that once those things (concerns) are given to God, you are not going to take them back. The athlete leaves his jacket back at the starting line…..he would not dare to run with it…… yet many of us attempt to run this race in God (journey) with jackets, baggage and everything else, saying to ourselves “what’s wrong? something’s wrong, I prayed about that”. So when we pray about something often, we need to do something. Just like we need to act in faith sometimes or repent, we need to fling aside things (cast them away from us and refuse to worry) we need to let go of them and commit them to The Lord.
He is saying to me that you cannot do this alone, that’s why The Comforter has come (the Holy Spirit). He will guide you into the Truth (the realization) that your God is able, and that He does care about you……that those who trust in Him do not trust Him in vain…..that He can make all blessing abound to you as you get good at it: the more faith and confidence you show in Him, the more He delights to reward that. Jesus said that He is not a stingy Father like some earthly parents…..He is not angry at us, He is not limited in resources. He is our Daddy, Elshadi: a Might Protector and Gracious Provider. He is Yahweh: the Great I AM – He is everything we need. The Shepherd and Savior, Lord and Deliverer, Creator and Sustainer.
The Amplified says:
“Cast your burden on the Lord (releasing the weight of it)” When you give things to The Lord, release the weight of them.
My advice to each of you is to go to the Riverside in times of need.
Yes, go to that spiritual River and be Refreshed.
FIND YOUR REST IN GOD!
I HOPE THIS HELPS
