I Peter 5:7: “Casting all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 

I know of no one other than Jesus Christ himself that has not had circumstances and situations in which they did not have anxiety and subsequent worry. Some people are more prone to it than others and the anxiety which brings it on may even reflect their spiritual values, personal witness, and conscientiousness to do the right thing. Paul clearly addresses our inclination to become anxious and worry in I Peter 5:7 and if anyone had cause to yield to these, it would have been Paul. It never kept Paul from obedience and doing what God called him to do. In one sense, he was saying to not submit to circumstances but to the Lord who controls all circumstances. Casting all your anxieties means throwing all your anxieties like throwing a fishing lure or throwing a net over something. Casting is an active and present tense word and action. Our anxieties include our discontentment, discouragement, despair, pain, suffering, personal attacks, or any trial we face. It is not a matter of “if” but “when” we will face these. Our casting them on him means our praying to him. “Worry is worshipping our problems. Prayer is surrendering our problems to him.”

In other words, we should not submit to our circumstances but to the Lord who controls all circumstances. In I Peter 5:6, just before our verse for the week, Paul wrote, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” This is how to look at anxieties since “the mighty hand of God” means that God’s sovereign power is at work. And then the promise that he will exalt the Christian out of trials, tribulations, attacks, and sufferings at his determined time. This promise is anchored in our humility and submission, as well as our perseverance to wait on his timing. This is not easy for us as active leaders but our obedience to it is imperative. We must remember that he is in control, he sees what we face, and he will always walk with us each step of the way. A leader must trade “worry and anxieties for prayer.” Praying, like casting, is an active, present-tense verb. It works every time.