”Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7New International Version (NIV)
1 Peter 5:7 Devotional (Daily Bible Verse)
Cast all your anxiety on him
In 1 Peter 5:7, Peter encouraged his audience to “cast all their anxiety on God” because He cared for them. At the time, Peter’s audience was facing persecution for their faith in God. And even though Peter had already informed his audience that they were being tested (1 Peter 4:12), thus, suffering as Christ suffered.
Therefore, Peter was burdened to encourage them to stand firm in their faith. And he encouraged them to do this by casting their anxiety on God because He cared for them. After all, God cares because He is compassionate (Matthew 6:25-27, and 32).
Casting all your anxiety on God
But what does it mean to cast all your anxiety on God? What did Peter actually exhort his audience to do?
Well, according to Peter, to cast all your anxiety on God is to throw all your anxiety on Him. When you cast all your anxiety on God, you throw or deposit all your anxiety on Him. And the way for you to cast all your anxieties on God is through prayer.
Nevertheless, Philippians 4:6 starts by encouraging you “not to be anxious about anything”. And Paul continues to exhort you to “present your prayers and petitions, with thanksgiving, to God in every situation”.
So while Peter’s audience was anxious about the persecution that faced them, you may be anxious about the cares of your body and life (Matthew 6:19-34). But you can depend on God for providence because you are valuable to Him.
Faith
In addition, when you cast all your anxiety on God, you demonstrate your faith in Him. This is because casting all your anxieties on God is a sign of faith in Him.
Psalm 55:22
Moreover, it seems that Peter was inspired by Psalm 55:22 which reads: “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken”. After all, Jesus’ apostles only had the Old Testament at their disposal.
Prayer/Blessing
Lord God, I cast all my anxieties upon You. You have reassured me that You care for me. Help me not to dwell on the worries and cares of this world.
This is my prayer in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Daily Bible Reading
2 Timothy 1-4 (see How to Read the Bible in One Year or How to Read the Bible (for Beginners))
