Anxiety

The Apostle Peter tells us to cast all our anxiety upon God, because he cares for us.
Some of us find this hard to do. We get anxious. We find that we can't just throw this anxiety away. A text that is meant to encourage us becomes an awkward text and it seems to hurt us more than help us. 
The first thing I want to say is that mental illness is not a sin. It happens to many of us and could happen to any of us. This text is not there to tell us off when we have mental health issues. 
The main thing I want to say is that this text is about more than the thing we call 'anxiety.' I think the older translations get it better when they talk of casting our cares upon God. It means something like, 'cast everything you care about upon God.' 
So what are things we care about? Our families? Our jobs? Our finances? Our health? These things matter but they can all distract us from seeking God. This is the idea behind the word that Peter uses. This isn't just about the times we feel anxious. It's about the times we feel excited, the times we feel determined, the times we are working hard and many other times. It's about all the times when the things we care about become more important than God.
These are the times when we need to trust that God cares for us and we need to know that God is bigger than us.
​More on Sunday ....