I have always been drawn to Matthew and Paul in the New Testament books. Peter’s life has been a mystery to me. Somehow, Peter’s post-resurrection ministry drew me a blank. Peter’s life work just never crossed my mind. Having read his two books recently, I am starting to get a flavor for Peter. He has some rather smart things to say.

When I read Peter say, . . . cast[ing] all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7), I thought about what it might really mean to cast all of your cares upon Him. All is a lot and covers everything. My nature is to reserve a lot of my cares. Do others really have emotional time to hear some or even all of my concerns? Really, each of us has our own cares and concerns . . . and that can be heavy and burdensome in and of itself. I try reserve my requests to the truly necessary. There may be some value in that – – as long as one remains transparent and genuine. But, reserving from the Lord? Peter is telling us to cast all upon Him. And, it’s not because He’s a magician or an enabler, it’s because He cares for us.

Think about the people in your life who care for you most. Hopefully, you can name one or two people who will lend their ear and heart to you when you are full of anxiety and concern. These few are sometimes like a life line turning you to the direction of the Lord and speaking peace into your anxiety. But even these select few who love you dearly can’t bear it all, all of the time. God is willing to take it all, all of the time, because He cares for you.

Peter brought to my mind the true nature of God. Just how good and pure He is. That He is able and desires to receive all of our cares and anxiety on account of His great love. He doesn’t have His own concerns trumping ours, He is not tired or worn out. He is not busy attending to His other children. His nature, made of pure love, asks us to cast our cares and anxieties upon Him. I am moved by that. I hope you are also moved to cast all upon Him.

I can only think that Peter must have known the faithfulness of God because he cast his cares upon God. Although I am learning now about Peter’s life work, I do remember that Peter the disciple sunk when He took his eyes off Jesus. I remember that he wrongly cut off the soldier’s ear. I remember how bold and then how sorrowful he was over his words time and time again. I can only think that Peter cast his cares upon the Lord; and, in his deep anxieties, Peter was received by the Lord. Because God cared for Him. I am moved by that. I hope that you are too.