dealing with anxiety
25 - 10/22 /15:06
According to Dr Kevin Elko anxiety can be like an internal, emotional bully. To deal with anxiety you’ve got to get away from how you feel. Instead focus on your choices—your own decisions. The apostle Peter wrote, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” Question is, how does one cast anxiety unto God?
Peter, remember, was an old fisherman. Instead of instructing his readers to dump their anxieties or escape them or offload them, this fisherman chose a fishing term: cast.
Think about what’s involved in a 1st century fisherman casting a net.
Peter, remember, was an old fisherman. Instead of instructing his readers to dump their anxieties or escape them or offload them, this fisherman chose a fishing term: cast.
Think about what’s involved in a 1st century fisherman casting a net.
Fishermen first cleaned their nets. Before casting your anxiety upon God, first clean your net—examine yourself and repent. Confess how you might contribute to your anxiety, and invite God’s redemptive cleansing.
Next prepare your net. Fisherman carefully arrange their net so their cast might be effective. Arrange your net—organize your life. Simple accomplishments can be first steps to a well-ordered life and success. Doing those things we can do can help us cast our anxieties upon God.
Then cast your net. Send your anxiety to God. Let it go. A fisherman won’t catch fish unless he throws his net. You can’t deal with anxiety if you hold on to those things that make you anxious.
Soon after casting the net the fisherman carefully pulls the net back to himself. Casting anxiety upon God includes hauling in all He has for you. Receive peace. Welcome forgiveness. Accept correction. Adopt biblical habits.
Once the net is recovered the fisherman must sort the catch. Casting your anxiety upon God requires discerning what you’ve hauled in is really from God and what might be cultural or popular or just makes you feel good.
The final step to casting anxiety on God: Repeat these five steps over and over and over again. Repent. Prepare. Cast. Receive. Evaluate.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” ~ 1Peter 5.6-7
Blessings,
Dan Nygaard