Cast It, Don't Carry It by Holly D. Sands

Life has a way of stacking up on us - work, family, whatever crisis is currently taking up residence in your mind at 2 a.m. In the middle of all that, I want to pause and talk about something that matters more than getting the to-do list cleared, and that is: staying thankful. And I don't just mean thankful for family, friends, and the good stuff, though we should be grateful for those. I mean thankful in the middle of trials. 

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4

How in the world does James expect us to be joyful when life is falling apart around us? Here's what I've come to understand over the years: the trials that test our faith are doing something in us. They're not random, and they're not wasted. A loving Father is using them to train us, to shape us more into the image of His Son. That's not a small thing; it's a privilege to be loved that carefully. He watches over every test, and He makes sure it does exactly what it needs to do. Not one inch more than we can bear, and not one inch less than what's needed to finish the work He started in us.

That's easy to say, but it's a lot harder to live out. The real test isn't in the Bible study or the Sunday sermon, it's in the moment life sucker-punches you and leaves you reeling. That's when you have to make a choice: to remember that no matter how confusing or painful the trial is, the Lord is still faithful. Still true. Still good. He is nothing but good.

I think of the words of Thomas à Kempis, who wrote centuries ago: "Whatever You do with me, Lord, cannot be anything but good. You are blessed if You leave me in darkness; You are also blessed if You leave me in light. You are blessed if You comfort me, and always blessed if You cause me to be troubled. I will receive from Your hand good and evil, sweet and bitter, joy and sadness, and will give You thanks for all things that happen to me."

What a picture of surrender. What a picture of trust. That's the posture I want - to see every circumstance, good or bad, as coming from a Father who knows exactly what He's doing with me.

Casting, Not Carrying

Peter tells us to cast our cares on Him, "for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). Notice that Peter doesn't say the Lord will remove the load. He says to cast it. There's a difference between handing something off and having it disappear.

J.R. Miller put it better than I ever could: "The promise is not that the Lord will remove the load we cast upon Him, nor that He will carry it for us, but that He will sustain us so that we may carry it. He does not free us from the duty, but He strengthens us for it. He does not deliver us from the conflict, but He enables us to overcome."

That's such a needed correction for how we tend to pray, isn't it? We ask God to take the trial away. And sometimes He does. But more often, He does something better and harder and that is, He gives us grace to walk through it. Paul understood this when he begged the Lord three times to remove his thorn. The answer wasn't removal:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Paul makes the same point elsewhere, in one of the most quoted and most misunderstood verses in Scripture:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13

That verse isn't a promise that you'll win the game, land the job, or get the outcome you're praying for. Read in context, Paul is talking about contentment - being able to endure through both abundance and need, both comfort and hardship, because Christ supplies the strength for all of it. That's a much sturdier promise than "I can achieve anything." It means I can endure anything, because He is with me in it.

Only This Moment

Elizabeth Elliot wrote something I've held onto for years: "We only have this present moment. We do not know if there will ever be another one. Therefore, when we accept what God has given us today with thanksgiving, with grace, with good cheer, it is amazing how all these questions about the future and/or the past rather evaporate."

She went on to say: "If the worst thing that can possibly happen does happen, as I have experienced in my life a couple of times, I can stand here and assure you that the grace is going to be there when you need it. However, the grace is not given for imaginations."

That last line gets me: The grace is not given for imaginations. God doesn't hand out grace in advance for the disasters we dream up at 2 a.m. He gives grace for what's actually in front of us, when it's actually in front of us. Worry borrows a future He hasn't given us grace for yet - because He hasn't given us that day yet either.

Don't Wait

So here's my encouragement to you: don't wait for the trial to end before you give thanks. Give thanks in the middle of it. Cast the care - the whole weight of it - on a Father who is not going to necessarily lift it off your shoulders, but who has promised to be your strength while you carry it.

He is not caught off guard by what you're facing. He is not withholding His grace. And He is, as always, nothing but good.

"For too insecurely does he stand who does not cast all his care upon [the LORD]." -  Thomas à Kempis 

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7 

About the Author

Holly D. Sands has walked with Christ since 1983. She writes at He Is My Song, sharing encouragement and admonition from Scripture with women pursuing Him more deeply. She lives in South Carolina, where she and her husband, Shane Sands, are members of Poplar Springs Baptist Church. Shane's been called by God as an evangelist and leads United in Christ Jesus ministry. At home, they're joined by their idiot cat, Mister Bojangles, whose main contribution to the household is sleeping and eating treats.