Daily Devotional For Friday, August 1, 2025
Good morning Southside! It’s Friday. I thought for today, we would have Friday “lite.” For several months, these devotions have been heavy and challenging. So, with the heat dome, the storms, and the personal issues you are having to face, I thought we would look at one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Read 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (NIV). Easier said than done, right?
This verse is really about humility more than anything else. Let’s look at the previous verse in 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time” (NIV). What is Peter’s point? Peter explained that the believers who continued to carry their worries, anxieties, stresses, and daily struggles by themselves showed that they had not trusted God fully. It takes humility, however, to turn everything (literally, “throw your anxieties”) over to God and trust that He cares. God is not indifferent; He knows what He’s doing in our lives even when we have our doubts.. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God’s concern.
Peter is speaking here from experience. Remember the night Jesus sent His disciples across the Sea of Galilee to teach them a lesson? A horrendous storm came and they were near sinking and drowning. Jesus came walking to them on the water. It’s dark. It’s late and in between the lightning strikes, they see this figure coming to them. At first, they think it is a ghost and cry out in fear (Matthew 14:25-26).
Jesus speaks to them, telling them not to fear. Peter, hearing this, asks Jesus if he could come to Jesus on the water. We then read this in Matthew 14:29-31, “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. (30) But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted. (31)Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt Me’” (NLT). While everyone else stayed in the sinking boat, Petter took the risk.
The reason we will not humble ourselves and cast everything to the Lord is because we doubt Him. Peter was doing great walking on the sea until he saw how huge the waves were and how strong the wind was, and then he doubted the Lord. We are going to get anxious. No matter who you are, life can make you anxious. There are times, God allows things to come into your life to get your attention such as some kind of dark “storm.” You can either walk to Him or sink in it.
Casting is not passive, it is active. Casting requires action. Cast on the Lord. Do not cave to the circumstances. When Peter was writing his epistle, Christians were being hunted down, persecuted and martyred by Rome. That would make anyone anxious, even Peter. So, he reminds his readers and us today that when circumstances are casting you down, immediately cast them to the Lord.
Corrie Ten Boon, was a Dutch woman whose family resisted Hitler and the Nazis by hiding Jews in their home in a hidden away place. They were eventually turned in and discovered. The Ten Boon family was placed in the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. A book was written about this (The Hiding Place) as well as a movie made about it (Movie). Every family member died but her. This woman has lived through anxiety and she once said this: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.”
What gets you anxious? What causes you to have fear? The Greek New Testament word Peter uses for “casting” is [ἐπιρίπτω, epiripteo]. This literally means “to throw upon” as throwing a saddle on a horse. Riding a horse bareback is not easy nor comfortable. A saddle, in this case, the Lord so to speak, makes it easier to ride out whatever is causing your anxiety. This is something active we do. You give it to God. You do not attempt to take matters into your own hands. You do not try to control or manipulate or ignore what is happening. You literally throw it all on the Lord.
Assignment: What typically gets you anxious? Do you give it to God or do you attempt to try to figure out an answer or way around it or over it? The next time you get anxious, hit your knees and give it all to God. You actually may have to do this several times that day because the devil loves to see you anxious. The Greek word “casting” is what we call in Greek a present participle – this means on-going action that never stops until whatever is causing the anxiety stops. You’re not harassing the Lord by casting this on Him multiple times a day; you’re being humble.
Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 55:22, Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times and places where I have tried to take control of my life. I choose this day to relinquish control of my life. I place it in Your hands. Draw me closer into a relationship with and dependency upon You. Thank You for loving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly