The Careful Art of Casting





*If you are the kind of person who enjoys fishing, you might want to click that handy little red "X" on the top of your screen because truthfully I have no clue what I’m talking about.*

I recently went with my family on a fishing trip. It wasn’t a very long one (just a quick trip really) and I didn’t fish. (I took pictures of stuff and thought…) but it was still fun to just be there in beautiful Washington State with my family.

I know some fishing stuff, just from talking to friends who are obsessed with fishing, but it was interesting to see it actually being done. (And I touched the fish. It wasn’t dead, but I touched it. It kinda flapped around a little bit.)

One of the things when you go fishing is called casting. It’s when you throw the pole with some pink, gloopy bait out for the fish to eat. When they eat it, the hook gets stuck in their mouth and then you crank up the reel. (Thank you amazing brothers for that word.)

You have to cast it out to the deep water where there are probably rocks and stuff, and hope that there are fish down there. It seems to be a very tasking job to get the little hook all the way out there because sometimes you have to cast it more then once.

As I watched my brothers throw the hook out over and over to try to get a fish, I thought of the verse in 1 Peter 5:7 that talks about “casting your worries” before the King of Glory, because he cares about you.

It’s a pretty deep concept really. If we where to take the fishing sequence (throw hook out, reel it in, repeat.) If we where to cast our worries out, they might come back. Perhaps in a way that has a treasure (such as a fish) but sometimes it comes back empty.

We could pretend that the treasure is something good, (like a chance for a new start) but at the same time, that good thing could be something overwhelming. (Such as… we’ll just stick with that chance to start over. You have to move, clean the whole house a million times and just… it’s hard!)

But in the verse, the treasure is God’s rest. When we throw our worries out, then his rest becomes our treasure.

Sometimes the bait comes back and there nothing at the end of it, so you get discouraged and cry out, “GOD!! WHERE ARE YOU!! Can’t you just give me your rest? Can't you just work now because I'm tired of learning patience.”

But like with fishing, you just keep casting your little sinker until something happens.

I don’t think that when you are fishing, if you just dropped your hook off the dock, you would find very many fish just sitting there waiting like, “Hey! Look! Some pink gloop on the end of a hook! I should eat that!”

That would be too easy. To get the fish, you have to cast.

In the same way,  I think when you want to see God move, you have to cast your cares before him.

He does see you, and your struggles, and he longs to have you cast your cares, that way he can put his treasures at the end of the hook. You see, God still knows what you need, but until you cast your cares there’s no proverbial hook to put his blessings on the end of.

When you cast, it's like you know that you need that thing, and then when it does happen, you can see God moving through it.

My family and I have been casting out house before God for the past couple weeks. It still hasn't sold yet and it's been hard! We've had to clean this house within an inch of it's life, We've had to be patient and wait. We've had to cast it before him so many times, and it still hasn't sold! But we are choosing to believe that if we keep casting it before him that it will sell in God's perfect timing.

Let me tell you, it hasn't been easy. I'm so tired of casting and believing that God's gonna sell this house. (I'm also tired of cleaning... but that's a different story.)

 But let me tell you, when I see the "Sold" sign in front of our house --that 'fish' on the end of the pole we keep casting--it's going to be a day of rejoicing. It's going to be the beginning of the conclusion to a saga of faith. It's going to be worth those hours of casting, because we have seen God move. 

That thing we are hoping and praying for will be a hundred times more special because of that.

Keep casting your cares before him. He's a forever sovereign God, and he does know the plans he has for you. 

I think I could ramble about fishing and moving and whatnot for a little while longer, but I’ll rescue all you people who actually do fish from the agony you must be going through.

“Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you. Control yourselves and be careful!... Stand strong in your faith… He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling…. All power is his forever and ever. Amen.”
~1 Peter 5:7-11

~Rachel Joy

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