Almost every chapter of the New Testament was written to and
for people who were having hard times. God knows that life is filled
with trouble and anxiety, and so He gave us His word to be the ark
to carry us through this world where the flood of sorrow never
ceases. Where else can we find help and hope? So many modern
scholars have become pessimistic because of their rejection of God.
Ernst Jungers in his essay Man In The Moon wrote, “I as a man on
the moon, can no where find sense, being truly an icy lunar with its
craters. Since I have given up seeking the point of my life, I am
completely tormented.” The best that man can give us will be of no
benefit when the flood strikes. The comforts of man’s theories of life
are shallow. The coin of their comforts ring like wooden nickels in
the hour of crisis.
Man wants an answer for his anxiety. He wants to be delivered
from his dread and cured of his care. Joshua Leibman in his best
seller Peace Of Mind wrote, “That men want peace is no private
opinion of mine. Heap worldly gifts at the feet of foolish men, give
me the gift of the untroubled mind.” Man wants peace, but where
can he go? All the world has to offer is sounding brass and a
tinkling symbol. There is only once source he can go to, and that is
the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. We want to focus
our attention on verse 7 for His message of challenge and comfort.
I. THE REALITY OF ANXIETY IS RECOGNIZED.
The Bible does not escape problems by pretending they are not
real. It recognizes that anxiety is very real and that even the
Christian is in danger of falling into its grasp. We would not have to
be told to cast our care upon Him if we had no care to cast. The
Bible assumes that Christians, like all people, suffer with worry and
anxiety in times of trouble. Anxiety comes from the root meaning to
divide.” The anxious Christian is a divided personality and cannot
give full devotion to Christ. Anxiety is to the personality what fever
is to the body. It registers the presents of something foreign causing
a reaction. Often we can no more help being anxious than we can
help getting an infection.
Someone has said, “Anxiety will not empty tomorrow of its
sorrows, but it empties today of its strength. It does not enable you
to escape the evil, but makes you unfit to cope with it when it
comes.” Jesus told us that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
You will have all you can deal with each day without adding to the
load worries about the future. Man has the power to imagine the
worst, and so he is capable of anticipating the future, and it is the
future that is the cause for so much anxiety. There is an old story of
a man walking along with a heavy burden, and the angel of
knowledge comes and says, “What are you caring?” The man said,
“My worries.” “Let us examine them,” said the angel. So the man
let down the load, and when they looked in the bag it was empty. “I
don’t understand,” said the man. “I had two great worries that
were so heavy I could hardly lift them.” “Yes,” said the angel, “but
one was of yesterday, and it is gone. The other was of tomorrow,
and it is not yet here.” We need to learn to bear only the worries of
today, and then we need not bear such a heavy load. God will not
give us burdens to great to bear, but if you take burdens beyond
today, they are not God given.
Every person has a breaking point, and if you choose to worry
about enough things anyone can destroy their peace of mind. If only
we could learn to live for today as the hymn says.
I’ll live for today nor anxious be,
Jesus my Lord I soon shall see.
Sometimes when the sky of our life is dark and dreary we feel
like the poet when he said:
Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears,
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain,
Take them and give me my childhood again!
But there is no escape from life’s trials like that. The past is gone
and we must face the present and the future with a greater power
than that which seeks to crush us. The Bible recognizes the reality
of anxiety and worry, but it also recognizes that faith in Jesus Christ
is sufficient to gain the victory over all that the world can throw at
us. Professor Royce of Harvard said, “Faith is the discovery of a
Reality that enables one to face anything that can happen to one in
the universe. Therefore, let us not bear the burdens of the future
until they come, knowing that when they do His grace will be
sufficient. Lady Teignmouth has put the words of Jesus in poetry
from where He urges us-
Oh, ask not thou, “How shall I bear
The burden of tomorrow?”
Sufficient for the day its care,
It’s evil, and its sorrow.
Thy God imparteth, by the way
Strength that’s sufficient for the day.
A housewife can stand to do the dishes a day at a time, but if
she were to see all the dishes she will have to wash for the rest of her
life, she would want to give up. So it can be in the Christian life if
one gets so concerned about what the future holds. The flower of
faith can be choked out. Jesus in the Parable of the Sower told of
some seed that actually began to grow but was then choked out
because of the cares of the world.
One of the greatest concerns that the future holds for all of us
is the concern about dying. Herman Feifel, a clinical and research
psychologist wrote, “Life is not comprehended truly or lived fully
unless the idea of death is grappled with honestly.” Christians react
different depending on their emotional makeup. George Foch wrote
to his wife: “If you should hear that our cruiser was sunk and none
were saved, then do not weep. The sea in which my body sinks is
nothing but the hollow of my Savior’s hand and nothing can snatch
me from it. Pages could be filled with the testimonies of Christians
who faced death in calmness and peace. On the other hand, studies
have shown that many Christians face death with great anxiety.
Dr. Paul Tournier in A Doctor’s Case Book in The Light Of
The Bible told of a near relative who opened her heart to him on her
death bed. She said, “When I realized that death was not far off, I
felt shattered and rebellious. I cried out inside of myself. No, I
won’t die, it isn’t fair at my age. At the same time I was reproaching
myself for these interior explosions. A Christian woman such as I
ought to be accepting death quite differently. But it was too strong
for me. I was kicking against death with everything I had. Dr.
Tournier points out that the Bible does not condemn this attitude,
but understands it. The Bible calls death the king of terrors and the
last enemy to be destroyed. Jesus faced it with great strain, and so
we see that the Bible recognizes the reality of the anxieties we face,
but it doesn’t just leave us there, for we see also in this 7th verse-
II. THE REMEDY FOR ANXIETY IS REVEALED.
How did Jesus face the dreadful future of mockery and
crucifixion? He faced it with anxiety. But what did He do with it?
He cast it upon His heavenly Father, and then went forth to bear it
in perfect peace. The peace of Christ is not an escape from trouble
and anxiety, but is a peace in the midst of it. Jesus humbled himself
and God exalted Him. Anxiety comes from an unwillingness to
submit to the providence of God. We will not say, “Thy will not
mine be done.” We cannot begin to find a cure for care and an
answer for anxiety if we do not let go of our own plans and pride
and submit to the will of God.
We must recognize the power of God, for we would not worry
so much about what man is going to do if we recognized the power
of God. He is still doing wonders in the realm of creation. In 1918
an astronomer on Mt. Wilson watched the heavens declare the glory
of God. At midnight a new star appeared glowing with increasing
intensity, and in 36 hours it increased in brilliance 30 thousand
times. Creation is constantly revealing God is at work. The poet
used the words of Jesus to remind us of this.
When we see the lilies spinning in distress,
Taking thought to manufacture loveliness;
When we see the birds all building barns for store,
‘Twill be time for us to worry-not before.
God is not only the mighty one who creates, He is the merciful
one who cares. A leading psychiatrist said that most who comes to
him “Lacked a sense of personal significance.” They feel that they
do not count in life. This never needs to be the feeling of the
Christian, for God cares for you and considers you precious. There
is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. St. Augustine said,
“God loves everyone of us as though there were only one of us to
love.” Therefore, let all your anxieties fall upon Him.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Cast your care upon Him for He cares for you. Cast here
means “To throw upon.” There is more to it than just letting go and
letting God. It takes effort for you have to cooperate with God. The
birds are not fed without searching, nor would they keep from
freezing if they did not obey their God given instinct to fly south.
God expects us to do our part. We cannot cast on God the problems
we can handle ourselves. Cast on Him the anxiety, but then get busy
doing what you can do to change the cause of your anxiety. Jesus
said that we cannot add one cubit to our stature by being anxious,
and so we must accept what cannot be changed.
A woman told me of an experience that she had with anxiety
and granted me permission as an illustration. Her problem was
nothing serious, but it was aggravating. There were two nails by a
doorway on which the broom was hung. The wife used the lower
nail, and when the husband used the broom he always put it back on
the upper nail. This was disturbing to the wife until it dawned on
her that this was a situation she could change. And what profound
plan did she come up with to deal with her problem? She removed
the upper nail, and her worries were over. Don’t worry about what
you can change. If you are walking around with a thousand dollars
cash in your pocket, you will naturally have anxiety about its safety.
All you have to do is put it in the bank and you can relax. Don’t
carry things around that create worry. Cast them on Him who cares
for you.
Cast thou thy care upon thy God;
The care that loads thy heart;
Take Him this moment at His word,
And let Him do His part.
Thy need is deep, thy care is great,
Thy burden hard to bear.
Role it on Him with all its weight,
And leave it resting there.
Dr. Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission, was so
burdened down with responsibility that he had very little soul rest
until he learned to cast his care on God. When he learned this
through a fresh meeting with God he said, “As to work, mine was
never so plentiful, so responsible or so difficult, but the weight and
strain are all gone.” This is what Jesus meant when He said that His
yoke was easy and His burden light. We have much to bear in many
trials to face, but He carries the heaviest part, which is the cares and
anxieties that we cast upon Him.
The remedy is not in escape, but in the power to see it through.
Philips Brooks said, “Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger
men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers
equal to your tasks.” The power is available if we will only cast off
the anxieties that sap our energy. Jesus is our example. When He
said don’t worry about tomorrow and about food and clothing, He
was not speaking as one who had no experience. Joseph died when
he was young, and he had the responsibility fo providing for His
family. He knew what it was to go through hard times, but we see
him constantly going aside to cast His care upon His heavenly
Father. Anxiety is real, but the remedy is real as well, if we will, like
Jesus, cast all our cares upon Him who care for us.
