Anxiety - Pt 5

And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:35-40 ESV).

We finally come to a word about “how” we can cast our anxieties on God. This word "casting" (cf. 1 Peter 5:7) occurs only one other time in the New Testament. It is found in our reading today. It's Palm Sunday and the disciples have been sent to get the donkey for Jesus to ride on. Then Luke tells us, "They brought it to Jesus, and casting their garments on the colt, they set Jesus on it" (v. 35). The meaning is simple and straightforward: if you have a garment on and you want an animal to carry it for you, you "cast" the garment on the animal. In this way you don't carry it anymore. It's on the animal not on you. The donkey works for you and lifts your load. God is willing to carry your anxieties the same way a donkey carries your baggage. One of the greatest things about the God of the Bible is that he commands us to let him work for us before commanding us to work for him. "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). God wants to be a burden bearer because it demonstrates his power and puts him in a class by himself among the so-called gods of the universe. "No one has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him." So throw the garments of your anxiety onto him. He wants to carry it. You do this by trusting that God genuinely and completely “cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Here is where we see the practical means to make the anxiety transfer from our back to God's back. When we trust that he cares for us, really believe that promise, we are freed from the burden. That promise does not hang in the air. It is connected to a command and the promise is meant to show us how to obey the command. The command is, Cast your anxiety on God. The promise is, God cares for you. That means, he cares about the thing that has you worrying. He wants to be trusted for that. Regardless of the root of our anxiety, the answer is always found in the truth that God cares for us. He will not fail us, or forsake us (cf. Deuteronomy 31:6); and, it will all work for our good (cf. Romans 8:28). Believe it!