Cast Your Cares on The Lord 1 Pet. 5: 7 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

We all have to deal with problems.  The key is to cast your cares on God.  Don’t let them get between you and THE LORD.  They will only get worse.  Notice the truths contained in casting your cares on the Lord.  [Note: each person in the congregation is holding a small piece of paper with the word PROBLEM written on it].

[Note: On the front wall of the auditorium is a projection about five feet by 8 feet with the words THE LORD displayed].

1. Hold your PROBLEM up, at arm’s length, between you and THE LORD [projected on the wall].

• Those of you in the back, how much does your PROBLEM cover THE LORD? [Note: It covers most of the displayed image].

• Those of you in the front, how much does your PROBLEM cover THE LORD? [Note: It covers the words THE LORD inside of the displayed image].

First principle, the further you are from the Lord, the more your problem, even at arm’s length, is going to dwarf THE LORD.  He is going to appear smaller than he really is and your problem is going to appear bigger than it really is.  

Your PROBLEM is about an inch and a half tall by four and a quarter inches wide.  From the back, when you hold it up to the wall at arm’s length and look at it, relative to the wall, it appears to be three feet tall by nine feet wide.  That’s 24 times larger than it really is.  

Second principle, when you hold on to your problem, while presenting it to the Lord, you actually magnify the problem and make it appear much bigger than it really is.  That’s why he told you to cast your care upon him.  You have to let go of it or you’ll make it look bigger than it is.

2. Draw your arm closer to you and notice that the closer the paper is to your eyes, the bigger the PROBLEM appears.  

Third principle, the closer you draw your problem to you, the bigger it appears.  Your problem is only as big as the paper in your hand, but it appears bigger, closer to you, than it does further away.  From the back, when you hold your PROBLEM a foot away from your face, it appears to be 7 feet tall by 20 feet wide.  That’s 56 times larger than it really is.

3. Hold your PROBLEM up to your eyes, between you and THE LORD.

• Those of you in the back, how much does your PROBLEM eclipse THE LORD? [Note: It covers the entire platform and all of the front wall].

• Those of you in the front, how much does your PROBLEM eclipse THE LORD? [Note: It covers from the expansion joint to the ceiling and the timbers on both sides of the arch].

Fourth principle, no matter how near you are to, or how far you are from, THE LORD, when your problem is very close to you, it totally eclipses THE LORD.  All you can see is your problem, from horizon to horizon.  You can’t see any part of THE LORD.  For some Christians, their problems appear to be huge and, practically speaking, God appears to be no where around.  They cant see him, or anything close to him, because of their problems.

4. Hold your PROBLEM up here on the wall, in the displayed box, with THE LORD.  Notice, that when your problem is with THE LORD, it is very small, by comparison to him.  

Fifth principle, when you cast your care [problem] on the Lord, your problem appears very small and God appears very big.  God appears as big as he really is and your problem appears as small as it really is.  Casting your care upon the Lord is like sending a message to the kite, which is what we did when we flew kites as children.  The higher your message travels up the string toward the kite, the smaller it gets, until it’s out of sight.

5. Leave your problem with THE LORD and walk to the back of the auditorium.  The PROBLEM remains the same size relative to THE LORD back there as it does up here.  

Sixth principle, no matter how close you are to the Lord, all problems cast upon THE LORD are, relative to him, the same size.  So, don’t let your current spiritual condition deter you from casting your care upon him.  Whether you feel like you’re back there or up here, casting your care upon the Lord gets it our of your hand and puts it into his.  Now, THE LORD is very big and your problem is very small.

Conclusion: The lesson is to cast your care [problem] on the Lord, immediately.  Don’t hold on to it.  Don’t just present it before him in prayer; you’ll magnify it.  Don’t draw it close to you;  you’ll magnify it even more and totally eclipse him.  Don’t let your problem get between you and the Lord.  Cast you care upon him and leave it there.  And remember, it’s not a sticky note.