I never heard it that way before.

I became a christian when I was 12. From that point up until a couple days ago, I never heard any one convey that 1peter 5:7, "casting all my cares upon the Lord" included raw emotions. I have lived the years thinking and practicing casting my cares on the Lord as saying something like, "Lord I'm overwhelmed, please help me" or "This is bothering me, I need your help.. and I'm telling you this because your word says for me to cast my cares on you because you care for me". A couple of days ago while making the bed, I had the television on and Gregory Dickow was on. He's a televangelist that I never listen to but that day, I continued making the bed and kept him on. Something he said then made me stop and listen. He talked about how religious we have sounded or some have sounded over the years as they "casted their cares upon the Lord" They strategically choose words and pray them and sincerely believe that they are casting their cares on Him. He then talked about how God wants to hear about when I am angry or feel cheated or feel vengeful. He wants to know when we feel like ringing someones neck or screaming at the top of our lungs. He wants to know if we feel jealous or lustful or all of those feelings that we are too embarrassed or or ashamed to talk about because we have to give the appearance of being totally health individuals. God cares and is waiting to hear you vent about all of those raw emotions. He - Gregory Dickow went on to say how if you sit down or with the healthiest individual, and begin to converse with them you will soon realize they have hurts- past and present in their lives that are still their. They too have been wronged on purpose and inadvertently. They have harbored at one time or presently bitterness against someone, a boss, a parent a sibling a friend - some one. And at the end of the conversation, you would see that both people talking would be in tears and in repentance. Although some are and and some appear healthier than others, none are without hurt. The message went on to talk about how when we have issues, struggles or are angry the primary thing we tend to do is to vent to a friend. And even when we get it all out, although we may feel relief, we rarely have a complete sense of peace at the end of the conversation. That is where that verse steps in "Casting all your cares upon Him because he cares for you". I never heard in Sunday School -yet , that God is big enough and God enough for me to vent on Him. Yet He is. He wants us to vent on Him. He knew that we could not handle this life on our own and He wants us to stop pretending that we can. He wants to hear about those thoughts of anger, vengeance, depression, suicide, hate, bitterness, hurt, disappointment, and betrayal... He wants to hear it all. He is waiting for us to vent on him. If he thought we could handle it all, He would have never told us to cast all of our cares on Him, because he Cares for us. Not only is he committed to taking care of us, He is concerned about us. That's what he means when he says that he cares for us.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with sharing and getting things out with a friend. There is nothing wrong with talking with someone who has a great listening ear. There is however a refreshment and resurrection that is birthed in you when you begin to spill it all out before the Lord. A refreshment and resurrection that only God can give. A refreshment that you can't find in a self help book. You will eventually move from a place of woundedness to healing. Not because of some mystically prayer or words you say but, because He is true to his word. He cares for you , so why not let him do his job?

Have we casted our cares on Him today or cheated ourselves out of the freedom and refreshment that comes when we do by choosing to vent on someone else that can do absolutely nothing to free us from all that weighs us down, from all that tangles us up and from all that keeps us bound?