An Exercise in Casting Cares

New day breaking over Balestrand, on the northern shore of the Sognefjord, west coast of Norway; photo BJ Gabrielsen.

In Psalm 55:16-17, King David says “As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me. Evening, morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice.” God’s ears are open to our cries and His shoulders are wide enough to carry our burdens. He is sovereign over the universe, so He is certainly capable of working out our problems and meeting our needs. I recently read an exercise that helped make casting my cares on Him a practical act.

First, take a piece of paper and write down the things that cause your anxiety. For me, as a 77- year old prostate cancer patient, my first item was that my cancer continue to be controlled, and that I not die of this disease. Upon further thought, there were other items that were cheating me out of peace but I will focus on the cancer here.

Next, pray each issue into God’s care. For me, praying the words of Romans 12:1, and inserting my own name as follows, is a daily act. “I urge you therefore” ____(your name), “by the mercies of God, to present your (my) body, a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is my spiritual” (some versions say rational) “service of worship.”

Finally, as you pray, visualize placing the situation into God’s omnipotent hands. Imagine handing our bodies over to the Lord, while saying, “Father, I give you my disease or condition. You are more than sufficient to handle it, and I trust You to guide me.”

Some people may resist this suggestion because certain pseudo-spiritual movements have a method they callĀ visualizing. But above, the term refers to the beautiful word pictures throughout the Bible, which God intended to help us understand our relationship to Him. This type of visualizing creates a mental snapshot of God doing just what He says He’ll do inĀ  Psalm 55:22, “cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” He also says “do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor for your body.” (Matthew 6:25).

When you have transferred all your worries to God’s hands, wad up the paper and then destroy it. In doing so, you symbolize the transaction that just took place. Your cares are no longer yours – every one of them belongs to the Lord. Then walk away in perfect peace.

If you are not sure whether you have such a personal relationship with God, see the following.

Much of the post above, was published in the January 5th, 2019 In Touch devotional, written by Dr. Charles Stanley.

One thought on “An Exercise in Casting Cares”

  1. Thanks BJ for sending this along to me…. I don’t have the big “C” but do need these words of encouragement as badly as others…. It’s amazing how our Lord, His word, and presence in our lives gives us such hope and peace in a world as we presently live… God bless you my friend and as you always say,,,,, “Keep looking up”

Leave a Reply to Kenny W McClain Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *