How Casting Our Cares Makes Us Better Servants
“Likewise, you younger men [of lesser rank and experience], be subject to your elders [seek their counsel]; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [tie on the servant’s apron], for God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time, casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]” (1 Peter 5:5-7, AMP)
Service is so deeply important to the Christian lifestyle. It is something Jesus did, and so we are compelled to do it. He washed the feet of His disciples. He healed the sick. He taught the masses. He ministered to many. He discipled those who were meant to pick up where He left off when His work after the cross was done.
And He’s still working and serving us, a people who don’t deserve such tender care and affection.
Our problem is, our flesh makes us short-sighted. We can have moments of deep gratitude for the almighty God and our awesome Savior. We have moments of reverent reflection for who He is and what He’s done for us. And then we have moments where we forget that because He gave us His all, we are called to serve His people. Too often, you see Christians claim they know Christ, and yet they occupy a pew on Sunday mornings, with no thought on how to serve God in His house. They want their communion brought to them, worship led for them, a message preached that’s not too uncomfortable, and bagels and coffee served to them on the way out the door.
We forget that none of that is written anywhere in the Bible, especially when talking about the practicalities behind the order of the Church, church leadership, and how to run the whole thing in a God-honoring way. Church is not designed to make you feel accommodated, yet sometimes, we can go out of our way to make sure that all our preferences are met.
God’s honest truth is that we are all called to be subject to one another. The younger congregants and Christians are called to humbly submit to the elders and shepherds of the church, taking care of those God has put in charge so that they have the means to minister to that congregation. And in turn, it is the elders and pastor’s calling to minister to the flock God has entrusted to them for safe-keeping out of the desire of their hearts and humility of spirit.
Whether you are a church leader or a church-goer, we are all commanded to “put on the apron,” so to speak, sharing our gifts so that God can be glorified and His Church can be cared for the way He cares for His people.
When we serve, we need to leave our pride at the door. When we serve, we should do it for the joy and glory of the Lord; not to be seen by others or to come off as impressive. Not for a promotion or a pat on the back. We should love and serve other people simply because God is delighted in it, and He will reward it in His timing. And even still, we should not serve with a glad heart just because we think we’re going to get a crown or higher status from God when the time is right. We should do it simply because God is pleased when His people are taken care of in the way that the Great Shepherd takes care of His sheep. He loves it when we extend His fatherly love to those around us.
He is a good God, who watches over us with the deepest care and the gentlest hand, we should be able to give every anxiety in our heart to Him. If we hold onto them, we won’t be able to serve to the fullest of our ability. Anxieties and worries weigh us down and keep us locked in a stalemate with where God is taking us. We cannot hold onto them and be a living testimony of what God has the power to do.
All the time, I bring concerns and worries to my husband, and he is notorious for saying to me, “You have to let that go. It doesn’t really matter in the long run.” And sometimes, I get mad because I wish he would match my concern, but other times he’s totally right.
God is the best shepherd we could have. He watches over us with such deep affection, and not just in an ethereal, mystical sense. He cares for us practically. He sends us provision in the form of other people within His Church; people called to care for His sheep. He gives us other Christians in fellowship and discipleship. He gives us a pastor that opens His word and speaks to us through that human mouthpiece. He meets our faith where we are. He meets us in our weaknesses and displays His strength.
When Peter tells us to give our cares to the Lord, he doesn’t tell us to passively lay them in His hands. He tells us to cast our cares, and that word is intentional. Casting takes effort. It takes intention. It means throwing something away from you as far as it will go. Why? Because our concerns and anxieties have a way of creeping back, and Peter knew that. He knew it would take all our strength to toss them up to the Lord for Him to take care of it.
For me, Charles Spurgeon says it best: “Prayer tells God what the care is, and asks God to help, while faith believes that God can and will do it. Prayer spreads the letter of trouble and grief before the Lord, and opens all its budget, and then faith cries, ‘I believe that God cares, and cares for me; I believe that he will bring me out of my distress, and make it promote his own glory.’”
Some of us have issues giving something over to God, much less casting them. Spurgeon is 100% right in saying that prayer, when combined with faith, is the best way to confront and give our worries to God.
When we can free up our minds of all that worry, we can better serve God and His people. And quite honestly, we have more of a testimony about the spiritual freedom we receive when we trust God with those things that bog us down. We submit to Him because He is so good to us. We worship Him because He has so deeply loved us. And we serve His people because it is Jesus’ very heart to love other people, and when you really get to know Him, you can’t just sit idly by.
Yes, God has ordained church leadership to serve and care for His children, but God calls us to serve each other just as much. It is a directive for us all.
