Casting All Our Care

We love to cling to this little verse in I Peter that is quoted in the photo above but there’s context to this verse we dare not ignore.

---

𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦: 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵; 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳: 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘯.
(I Peter 2:6-11)

---

From reading this verse in context we know that we must humble ourselves (which evidences itself through our submission to God’s will and our obedience to His Word) and we must dedicate ourselves to being sober and vigilant, understanding that we have a very real enemy who seeks to devour us whom we need to resist. We also see here that we can expect some suffering (“after ye have suffered a while”).

We can’t rip a verse out of context and claim its promises without understanding God’s complete thought regarding that promise.

There have been a lot of things going on in our lives here in my world and, if I am honest, I feel just a bit numb. Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated 36 years of marriage and I told him I think we’ve had more to work through and process in 2024 than we’ve had altogether in our entire 35 years previously. Not really, but it’s been quite a year for us.

Even the last two days were filled with an unexpected trial as we faced some unexpected circumstances that came flying at our family rather out of the blue.

But here’s the thing…

God’s care was so evident in the midst of it and through it all. His mercies were abundant and His care so obvious.

So what does God’s care look like? Does it eliminate all our financial woes, relationship struggles, illnesses, death, and all of the other trials and troubles we face? Of course not. These things happen to us all in one way or another. We live in a fallen world.

But we are not forsaken in the midst of them. And that’s the key.

However, we must understand that this promise is only for those who live humbly before God. They are for those who are willing to submit to and obey Him. The promise is for those who accept what they cannot change.

The pain is still there, the fear and the anxiety still loom over our heads. But, in the midst of them, God is with us.

I’ve written this before but I was struck so profoundly by something Elizabeth Elliot said many years ago: With acceptance comes peace.

As long as we are fighting against God, we will have no peace and we will not feel nor notice His care.

But when we surrender our will to His, these things become so obvious we cannot imagine how we missed them.

My life has been an ongoing project of learning to surrender to God when I just don’t want to. Sometimes this comes easily. Many times it’s a real struggle. I want to cry “this isn’t fair!” Or “why me?” more often than not. I have not learned to “instantly” surrender. But I do know that this is what God desires of His children. I do know that this is a condition for those who will reap the reward of His generous promises of peace and joy in the midst of trials.

Life is not easy. And we are told in scripture we will suffer. But we are also told that it is just for a while. This is not our eternity. This is not our forever.

As we humble ourselves, as we are sober and vigilant, as we resist the devil…then we know that God will not leave us in a place of suffering but He will make us perfect, establish us, strengthen us, and settle us. He has promised. All glory and dominion are His. He has the power to fulfill His Word and He will do it.

Oh, how I love God’s Word. It has such a grounding effect and helps us find perspective when the world just doesn’t make sense. But we must read and study it in context. We dare not pull verses out of context or we will find ourselves disillusioned and untrusting of God and His Word.

May we march on, trusting our Heavenly Father with faith in His Word, as we wait for the appearance of our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!