Stop Reeling It Back In: Casting Your Cares on the Lord

A few weeks ago, my best friend from high school preached a message at her church in Pennsylvania about casting your cares on the Lord. She and her husband pastor there together, and as I listened, something about the message stirred my heart.

The Holy Spirit began speaking to my heart. Not in a loud or dramatic way.

Just one of those moments where the Lord sweetly reminds you,
You’re carrying things again.

You know how that happens?

We pray about something…
Then keep thinking about it.
Keep worrying about it.
Keep trying to solve it.

We hand it to God with one hand while still gripping everything tightly with the other.

Her message painted such a beautiful picture of what it really means to cast our cares on the Lord, and I found myself thinking about it days later.

Full message by Karen Farkas (Starts 27 minutes in)

The more I reflected on it, the more the fishing analogy stayed with me.

Some seasons feel like standing at the edge of the water with tangled fishing line, too much weight in the tackle box, and no idea where to even begin untangling it all.

Tangled Lines and Tired Hearts

Have you ever tried to untangle fishing line? (Or maybe a knotted necklace?)

It usually starts small.
One twist.
One knot.
One snag.

Then suddenly the whole thing feels wrapped up in itself.

Life can feel that way, too.

One hard conversation.
One unexpected bill.
One health concern.
One relationship strain.
One anxious thought in the middle of the night.

One more thing on our to-do list.

And before long, our hearts feel tangled with worry, pressure, responsibility, and fear.

Especially as women, we carry so much.

We carry concern for our children.
Our husbands.
Our parents.
Our friendships.
Our churches.
Our work.
Our future.

We often carry things that were never ours to hold in the first place.

We Carry What We Were Meant to Cast

Peter writes:

“Casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.”
— 1 Peter 5:7 (ESV)

I love that word: casting.

Not setting something down nearby.
Not temporarily handing it over.
Not talking about releasing it while secretly holding onto it.

Casting requires movement.

It requires intention.

And it requires release.

When you cast a fishing line, there comes a moment when you have to release the button.

If you keep holding it down, the line never goes anywhere.

You can swing the rod.
You can make all the right motions.
But without release, the cast never actually happens.

I could not stop thinking about how often we do that spiritually.

We say the prayers.
We talk to God about the situation.
We ask Him for help.

But we never actually release the weight of it.

We hold onto control.
We hold onto fear.
We hold onto the need to understand everything.

Casting our cares is not passive.

It is a choice.

An action.

A decision to loosen our grip and trust that God is able to hold what we cannot.

Why We Reel It Back In

I think one of the hardest parts of surrender is the waiting.

If God answered every prayer immediately, trust would probably feel much easier.

But often there is space between the casting and the catching.

And in that space, we are faced with a choice.

Will we trust Him there, too?

Or will we reel it all back in again?

Back comes the fear.
Back comes the overthinking.
Back comes the “what ifs.”
Back comes the pressure to figure everything out ourselves.

Sometimes anxiety almost feels productive because at least we are doing something.

But spinning in worry has never produced peace.

Only Jesus does that.

Casting Deeper

I also thought about the moment in Luke 5 when Jesus told the disciples to launch out into the deep and let down their nets.

That took trust, too.

Deep water feels uncomfortable because we cannot control it.
We cannot fully see beneath the surface.

But deeper trust is often found in deeper water.

Maybe the Lord is inviting some of us beyond surface-level surrender.

Beyond saying we trust Him while still gripping everything tightly underneath.

Maybe He is inviting us to truly release it.

To actually believe He cares for us.

Not just spiritually.
Not just eternally.
But personally.
Daily.
In the middle of the thing keeping us awake at night.

He cares about the burden you have quietly carried for so long that it almost feels normal now.

And maybe today the Lord is not asking you to figure everything out.

Maybe He is simply asking you to release the button.

To stop gripping so tightly to the very thing that is weighing your heart down.

Because the truth is, we cannot cast what we refuse to release.

And perhaps real peace begins there.

Will you choose with me to truly cast ALL your cares on Him? Then, will you choose to trust Him, not just today but daily, sometimes even moment by moment? He truly cares for you. (That word care means He is paying attention to, giving thought to, and taking interest in -YOU!)