What Does This Really Look Like?
You worry about it. You pray about it. You worry about it some more. You ask your best friend to pray about it. You keep worrying about it.
Maybe you play out the worst-case scenario or mentally rehearse how you will deal with it.
Your friend tells you to ‘give it to God,’ so you pray again. And worry some more.
Does this sound familiar? We all do it.
We may even call it “giving it to God.” But most of us give it to Him…keep both hands still on it…ready to take it back the second we feel like it’s out of control.
1 Peter 5:6-7 has a better idea.
The Verse We Think We Know
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” — 1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV)
👉 Download the free printable study here: “Cast Your Cares On Him” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
Most of us have heard some version of the second half of this verse — “cast your anxieties on God because He cares for you.” It shows up on bumper stickers and sweatshirts. It’s a beautiful promise that, rightly, makes us feel good.
But we almost always skip the first half of the passage. And, the first half is the part that makes the second half possible.
This passage doesn’t start with casting your cares. It starts with humbling yourself. And, that makes a difference in how the rest of the verse works.
Why We Can’t Seem to Let Go
When you’re anxious about something, you often feel like you’re doing something about it by worrying and planning. Your brain is running through scenarios, weighing options, building contingency plans. You’re being prepared and responsible.
But worry doesn’t actually solve problems. It doesn’t help anyone and, most importantly, it doesn’t change outcomes. Worry exhausts you. It steals your peace. and, it slowly convinces you that everything will be fine if you can just stay one step ahead.
And the longer you carry it, the more normal it feels. You stop noticing the weight because you’ve been carrying it so long. Meanwhile, God is there. And He is saying, Throw it to me. All of it. I’ve got it. Why don’t we believe him?
The Thing About God’s Timing
One phrase in this passage from 1 Peter that is easy to breeze past: “so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”
The proper time. Not your preferred time. Have you ever prayed and prayed about something and found yourself frustrated that it just isn’t being handled?
Deep down, we may believe that God can handle it, but we can’t seem to stop worrying about it. We’re anxious about whether He’ll handle it soon enough. On our schedule. Before things get worse. Before we lose our grip on it.
The hard part is trusting God through that time between when you want it handled and when God decides it will be handled. That’s where faith is built.
Consider a time that you prayed and prayed for something and it didn’t happen. Then, some time passes and you realize that something better happened that couldn’t have happened except for your ‘unanswered’ prayer. Consider, that God has a plan — and it might not always be clear to you.
The Daily Practice of Letting Go
This isn’t a verse to read and put away. It’s a verse that needs to be applied to your life repeatedly. As often as needed.
Because worry comes back. The situation you prayed about and gave to God, is suddenly, once again, the thing you are worried about while you’re trying to focus on something else.
And that’s okay. Casting your cares on God is a daily, sometimes moment-by-moment, practice of recognizing that you’ve picked the worry back up and throwing it onto Him again.
The Study
Cast Your Cares On Him is the second study in Volume 2: Do Not Worry, part of the Ensnared No More: Daily Moments of Discernment series.
Each Moment is designed to be brief but meaningful — deeper than a quick devotional, but still something you can work through in the middle of a real, busy day. No fluff. No filler. Just Scripture, honest reflection, and space to let God’s Word do what it does.
In this study, you’ll find the full passage in context, a look at what it actually means (including the translation of certain words from the original language that make the message in the verse even stronger), reflection questions that will challenge you to examine where your need to worry may be quietly destroying your peace, and space to pray and journal your response.
It’s not long. It is honest. And it might change the way you walk through trials.
It’s designed to be deeper than a quick devotional, but still doable in real life.
👉 Download the free printable study here:
“Cast Your Cares On Him” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
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All Scripture quotations are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
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