Launch Your Net
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Insight
I watched as my dad talked my son through gathering the rope, then the weighted net, and how to hold it just right. He would show him, then pass him the net. They did this back and forth a few times until my dad thought my son had a good grasp of how to hold it. Then he talked him through it again, but this time, he was to throw it. And that's precisely what he did. He just threw it. It just fell into the water not far from my son's feet. So they tried again, and again, and again.
The process of gathering the rope and the net just right before you sling the cast net takes more time than actually throwing it. It can be cumbersome to an adult, so especially a little boy. My son was getting frustrated as my dad continued to show him how to gather it again, pass it off, coach him through it, and he would cast it out on the water. If you've never worked through this process, you don't realize how cumbersome it is. Getting the net in your hands just right for the net to fully open and the weights to sink properly takes some practice.
After numerous tries and a lot of frustration, it finally happened. My son pulled in the net from his last failed attempt, looped the rope in his hand, gathered the net at just the proper distance, pulled his arm back, and cast the net. It opened into a full circle, fell into the water, and he pulled it back in. He did it; he threw the net perfectly. As he pulled the net in from the water, though, there was not a single fish. Now he had the form. Next, he had to find the fish. Eventually, he did, and he was elated from finally getting the thing he worked so hard for.
When I think about casting, I'm constantly reminded of that day on the beach. To launch a net, you have to gather it all up and throw it far and wide. It's not a drop it in front of your feet or sit it down beside you type of practice. It's not a grab pieces of it and throw it little bits at a time practice either. Instead, you have to get every inch of that wet, messy net off the ground, in your grasp, and sling it as far as you possibly can.
That's what Peter is telling us to do in today's Scripture. Cast all your anxiety on God. Pick it up, all the weight, all the mess, mud slipping off of it, and sling it as far from you as possible. Cast it all on Him because He cares for you. Give that thing that is binding up your heart and overwhelming your mind over to God. Don't sit with it one more minute. Don't just drop in right in front of you. Don't think about it a little more before you decide what to do. Don't pick it apart and see what you can give up. Instead, gather it, sling it and let the weight of that net fall on Him.
Think about the weight that is overwhelming you right now. Now think about how to cast that on Him. For me, sometimes my circumstances are so overwhelming, I don't know how to release anything. I gather it all up, my thoughts, fears, emotions, and get more tangled in my net of anxiety. I put pressure on myself to figure out something that was never mine to figure out. I overanalyze. I overthink. I disconnect and try to walk away. But I never seem to be able to let it go. I let go of pieces but inevitably drag my net with me.
If we step back in 1 Peter 5 to verse 6, Peter tells us how to release our anxiety, and it's not the answer I thought I would find. He says, "humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." Amid my crippling anxiety, how do I humble myself? That's when I realized that my overanalyzing and overthinking is a product of me trying to carry my net by myself. My pride tells me that I have to fix it, I need to solve it, and that if I could find a solution, I could get out of my situation.
What I need to do is lighten my load. We need to release the weight onto someone else. We need to cast our anxiety on Him. We talk to our Heavenly Father through prayer and ask Him to take our fears, anxiety, and overwhelming thoughts. God also provides us with community to lighten our load, so we do not carry our burdens alone.
Hebrews 12:1 says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. We find a trusted Jesus following friend and cast it on them. We make an appointment with a biblical counselor. Telling someone else about the things we have been carrying alone that bring shame and overwhelm us requires us to humble ourselves. Once we gather that net of anxiety that hinders and entangles us and cast it upon our Heavenly Father and our community, we don't have to carry the weight alone.
Reflection
What burdens are overwhelming your heart and mind right now? Right them down as a practice of identifying what you need to cast on Him.
What friend can you share something on that list with? If you don't have a friend you can trust, I encourage you to call a counseling center to have someone to cast your burdens on.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving and caring so much for me that You will carry the weight of all my anxieties. I pray that You would help me to identify what burdens I am carrying that I need to humble myself and release to You. I know that I was not created to walk through life's circumstances alone. I pray that You would send a friend and community to love and care for my heart and help lighten my load. Help me to gather all my anxieties and cast them upon You. Amen.
Ashley Sarvis, Port City’s Welcome Coordinator, wrote today’s devotional.
