It's no secret that many of us today struggle with anxious thoughts.  In fact, this generation is breaking records for anxiety and depression.   Many today turn to counseling and medication, which can be helpful tools to help overcome this invisible enemy.  However, many Christians are neglecting one of the powerful practices called for in Scripture, given that we might find relief from the anxieties that plague us:  

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1 Peter 5:7 says:​

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"Cast your all your cares upon him, because he cares for you."

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While no doubt many of us will come to God and ask him to change our circumstances, and ask others to pray such prayers for us, "casting our cares upon him" is a practice that seems to be rarely talked about.  Casting our cares upon God involves more than merely asking him to fix our problems.  It involves sharing with him how we're feeling in the midst of our problems.  In one place, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our "Counselor" (John 14:26).  In the same lesson, Jesus calls himself our Friend (John 15:15).  One thing that counselors and friends have in common is that they are both people that we go to and share deeply the things that are weighing heavily on our hearts, because we trust that they will listen with love.  Anyone who has ever been in counseling, or even just has healthy friendships, knows the therapeutic effects experienced from simply being heard - even in the midst of unchanged circumstances!

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No doubt, such healing is what Peter envisions us encountering when we go to "cast our cares" upon God.  

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