Tom Barnard

“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.”

1 Peter 5:7

How gentle God’s commands!

How kind His precepts are!

Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,

And trust His constant care.

His goodness stands approved

Down to the present day;

I’ll drop my burden at His feet,

And bear a song away.

Philip Doddridge

The Apostle got it right—finally. The Big Fisherman was always quick to speak and first to act. To say that Peter was impulsive understates reality by a mile. He had an opinion on most subjects, and you could count on him to speak—even before his brain was engaged. But he was fast to respond when he saw something that needed fixing. Need help pulling in a boat-load of fish? Peter would be in the middle of the pull, taking on more than his share of the work. Need volunteers to take a journey with Jesus? Peter would be the first to stand. He was not a deep thinker, but if action was appropriate, Peter would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of men. Need someone to step to the front to defend Jesus? Who was the one in the Garden who swung a sword and cut off the ear of the guard closest to Jesus? Peter.

But Peter learned well. He remembered what Jesus had said about humility and sacrifice and trust. And he came to understand that Jesus expected believers to look to Him for help. When he wrote, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you,” he spoke both from first-hand experience and knowledge. He knew that the Lord was not just inviting believers to cast some of their burdens on Him, but that Jesus wanted to carry all of their burdens—every last one of them.

What should my response be? I believe I will do as the poet said, “I’ll drop my burden at His feet, and bear a song away.”

Lord Jesus, forgive me for being reluctant to dump on you. Remind me once again that you long for me to unload my concerns and cares on you. Teach me that I don’t even have to ask in advance—I can just start letting go. You know how “care-happy” I am—always trying to solve my own problems, along with the concerns of others around me. I know I cannot fix everything that is wrong in my life and in my church, but I can step out in faith now and say, “Here are my burdens, Lord. I surrender the outcome of these concerns to you. And I praise you for accepting them unconditionally. They are yours. Do with them as you will. They are no longer mine. Amen.”