(1 Peter 5:7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you
Fear – is a response to a known immediate threat. The body and mind react to something specific and present.
I give you this definition, so that we know, this series is not about fears.
The reality is, fear can be appropriate and wise at times. We mustn’t confuse fear with anxiety.
Anxiety – is future oriented and often vague uneasiness or dread on what may or may not happen. The mind anticipates a threat or a loss that is not present and has not happened.
Anxiety kicks in and lingers, even becoming chronic and paralyzing. Anxiety is often a reflection of an internal struggle to trust God with the unknown or that which is out of our control.
Anxiety has dimensions to it:
1. Emotional Anxiety – This aspect touches the feelings most commonly associated with anxiety—fear, dread, restlessness, and unease.
– It often manifests as a lingering sense of worry or anticipation of something going wrong, even when no immediate threat is present.
– Emotional anxiety can make joy feel unreachable and peace seem foreign.Like David in Psalm 55:4-5, who says, “My heart is sore pained within me…fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,” emotional distress can be overwhelming.
2. Cognitive Anxiety This centers on the thoughts that race, spiral, or loop—worrying about the future, overanalyzing the past, or being trapped in “what-if” scenarios.
– It is where anxiety talks most loudly: “What if I fail?” “What if God doesn’t show up?”
– This dimension often paralyzes decision-making, clouds judgment, and corrodes trust.
3. Physical Anxiety – Anxiety isn’t just felt or thought—it courses through the body.
– Symptoms might include racing heartbeat, trembling hands, shallow breathing, upset stomach, or fatigue.
– Chronic anxiety can wear down the body over time, often creating a feedback loop: physical symptoms heighten emotional and cognitive distress.Jesus, in Gethsemane, experienced the weight of distress so heavily that His sweat became “like drops of blood” (Luke 22:44).
These affect the spiritual man. When they begin to reign in our lives, our spirit comes under attack as well.
4. Spiritual Anxiety Perhaps the most quietly crippling—when one fears God’s silence, doubts His goodness, or wrestles with the guilt of not having “enough faith.”
– This might sound like: “Where is God in this?” or “If I were truly saved, would I still feel this way?”
– Spiritual anxiety often masks itself in hypervigilance or shame, leading people to hide from God rather than run to Him.
Anxiety doesn’t have to rule! That spirit doesn’t have to have control! It doesn’t have to be the end of the story of your life but the beginning of the miraculous!
We mustn’t pretend that we don’t deal with anxiety. We mustn’t try to hide it from the one who sees all and knows all. Christ doesn’t call us to hide it or ignore it. He calls to us to:
I. Express it Before God, understanding the Lord is our anchor and as our anchor He is a great comfort in the midst of the anxiousness trying to pull us down into doubt.
– (Hebrews 6:19) Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
The anchor doesn’t stop the waves, but it keeps the vessel from drifting aimlessly when they do crash. We are anchored in God Himself and there can be nothing that can move us, may we just simply trust in Him.
II. Meditate on what is true – (Philippians 4:8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
We need to reorient our minds and confront cognitive anxiety with that which is truth. The truth of God’s word can bring order to the chaos of anxious thoughts. Remember His Promises are “Yea and in Him Amen”.
III. He Is Touched – (Hebrews 4:14) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. (Hebrews 4:15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:16) Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
“Sometimes we think that because Jesus is God, He could never know temptation the way we do. In part, this is true: Jesus faced temptation much more severely than we ever have or ever will. The Sinless One knows temptation in ways we don’t, because only the one who never gives into temptation knows the full strength of temptation.” Guzik
Spurgeon wrote, “Casting is a rather energetic word. He didn’t say, “Lay all your care upon Him,” because we have to do it more energetically than that. The idea is, “throw it away from you.”
This work of casting can be so difficult that we need to use two hands to do it: the hand of prayer and the hand of faith.
Prayer tells God what the care is, and asks God to help, while faith believes that God can and will do it.
Prayer spreads the letter of trouble and grief before the Lord, and opens ail its budget, and then faith cries, ‘I believe that God cares, and cares for me; I believe that he will bring me out of my distress, and make it promote his own glory.’”
IV. HE SAYS COME – (Matthew 11:28) Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“‘Come; he drives none away; he calls them to himself. His favorite word is ‘Come.’ – ‘Come unto me.’ To Jesus himself we must come, by a personal trust – to the personal Saviour.” (Spurgeon)
Whether the anxiety that perplexes us be emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, or all the above we are encouraged, more like urged to come unto Him.
There’s a song we sing at my church, it’s a powerful picture of the reality that God is calling for you to come to Him and trust Him
Are you tired and troubled
Weighted down by a heavy load
Praying for change Searching for faith
Waiting on a miracle Are you drowning in questions
Can’t believe where the road has lead
There’s one who knows the heavy you hold
There’s a peace that can hold you
And a power greater than your own
When you feel so small Back to the wall
That’s when Jesus calls
Come to me All who are weary And heavy burdened
All who are hurting
Come to me I’ll be your shelter
My yoke is easy My load is light
And you can find rest for your soul
Rest for your soul
You were never meant to carry that weight alone
You were never meant to carry it on your own
Come to the cross Lay it at the feet of Jesus
Come to the cross Lay it at the feet of Jesus
There is one who knows the heavy you hold And he says
Come to meAll who are weary And heavy burdened All who are hurting
Come to me I’ll be your shelter
My yoke is easy My load is light
And you can find rest for your soul
Rest for your soul
Child of God, He is calling for you to surrender your anxiety, trust Him. Cast it upon Christ and find rest! What is it that is causing you to be plagued in your mind? What is it that keeps you awake at night? What is it that has griped your soul and torments peace, causing turmoil and suffering? Cast it upon the Savior! Find rest! Find freedom! Find Peace!
Psalm 31:9-10 KJV — Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
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