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God...I'm drowning...

1 PETER 5:6-7 NET 6 And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand 7 by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you. Worry is associated with pride, as these verses reveal, for being humble is the opposite of pride. And pride will, sooner or later, cause you to fail, instead of lifting you up. A person who worries is proud because their action shows they think they are better and more compassionate than God. When you analyze it, the thinking behind worry is really "God is not doing a good enough job taking care of me, so I better take over and figure something out on my own." Pride makes us think we can handle things on our own -- apart from God. Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing -- at least nothing that amounts to anything. (We certainly can mess up all by ourselves.) One way to humble ourselves is to just put our lives in God's hands and trust Him. It's like getting in a car someone else is driving. You don't want to get in the car of a stranger who may be untrustworthy. But God loves you more than you love yourself and desires the best for you, so you can trust Him. God knows how to drive and what is needed to get you where you need to go. Since He loves you enough to die for you, surely you can trust Him with smaller issues. The word "casting" in 1 Peter 5:7 means "to throw." Whatever is a burden to you, is troubling you, weighing you down, causing you concern, or tempting you to worry is included in what you are to throw over on the Lord. God wants us to throw all those things over on Him, trusting Him to work it all out for the best. Then once you really throw them over to Him, you'll have peace in your heart even though the problems still exist, because you know the Lord is working. Throwing something is not the same as pushing it aside a little bit. Throwing something pictures getting rid of it completely. When you throw something you don't have it anymore. Instead of throwing the concern of the things they face over to God, many just try to push them away a little at a time. They ask God to help them, but they keep trying to solve things on their own. Yes, we have a part to play, and we can't just lock ourselves in a room and expect God to go out and live our lives for us. But the part we have to play is obedience. When God directs us to do something we are to do it. But worrying ahead of time about what will happen does no good. You may find it helpful to perform a symbolic physical act like writing all your "cares" on a paper that you then throw into the trash. Symbolizing your faith by an act like this may make it more real to you. Read the following translations to help you meditate on this verse and let the meaning deeply affect your thinking. 1 PETER 5:7 NLT 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 PETER 5:7 AMPLIFIED 7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. 1 PETER 5:7 NJB 7 unload all your burden on to him, since he is concerned about you. 1 PETER 5:7 CEV 7 God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him. 1 PETER 5:7 GNB 7 Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you. Although things may not be clear to you now, and things may not seem to be working out, God is trustworthy. So don't depend on your own understanding, but trust in God. He knows what He is doing, and He loves you. You will understand better later on. Worrying will never help. Instead of worrying and being anxious, throw all your cares on the Lord. SAY THIS: I need God's help, so I throw all my concerns over on Him, trusting Him to work it all out for the best.

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