Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

I’m also extremely burdened for you all. So many teenage girls live life on an emotional roller coaster. I love some roller coasters, but some of them just scare me to death. My goal isn’t so much to get you off the roller coaster, but to show you that while you’re on it, you don’t have to worry about the next curve around the bend. You can trust God, and know that He will be with you throughout the ride.

I have three children: two girls and a boy. My girls will be teenagers one day, and will struggle with many of the same things you do. I’d like to share with you what I hope my girls will embrace when they reach your age. I hope that they find overwhelming joy and peace in the fact that God loves them, and will be with them throughout life’s roller coaster.

I’m going to focus mostly on just one verse of Scripture this week.

“Cast all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

This verse tells us very plainly what to do with all the things that worry us. We’re to cast them upon the Lord! Real quickly, I want you to think of something that you often worry about. Take out your pretend paper and pen, write your care on there, and cast it upon the Lord. It’s not that easy, though, is it? I wish it were. But the truth is, even if you truly cast that care upon the Lord just now, you probably have many, many more things that worry you.

I’m sure each of us could write a list a mile long of all the things we worry about. My list would include things such as the safety of my family and money issues. Your list might include doing well in school, or belonging to a group of friends, or finding a cute boyfriend. Or maybe some of you are worrying about bigger things, such as your parents getting a divorce, or your friend who cuts themselves when they’re upset. A couple years ago, my oldest daughter, who was 3 years old at the time, was worried that she would go to down the drain in the bathtub.

A lot of people in the world worry about finding their next meal. In the Old Testament, King David often worried about his life, because he had enemies who were often trying to kill him (Psalm 6:2-4, 6-9).

I’m not trying to diminish your worries at all, but I do want us to realize that we all have different worries. Depending on where you are in life, where you live, or how old you are, you will have different worries in life. Some are great, some are small, but they’re all things that concern us. God invites you to cast all your cares upon Jesus.

But this isn’t merely an invitation to cast all your cares upon Jesus, it’s a command. When you obey God in this way, God frees you from the worries of life. You can’t expect God to give you peace in the midst of trials unless you let go of your worries, and give them over to God.

So how do you do this? How do you cast all your cares upon God? (Philippians 4:6-7). First of all, you must pray. Secondly, you must be thankful. No matter what you’re worried about, realize that God has blessed you.

In fact, maybe God has even blessed you in the midst of that thing you’re worried about. For example, I’ve known several people over the years who have suffered because of cancer. But these same people have grown in their faith, been surrounded and supported by good, Christian friends because of the cancer that they had. So sometimes instead of worrying about something, we need to recognize how God is using that thing for our good and His glory. So you must trust God. Trust Him to take care of your worries. Trust Him that He has a purpose for the tough times you’re going through.

If you do these things, you will receive the peace of God. When you cast your cares upon God through prayer, God fills you with a feeling of peace. But there’s another peace that must first. In order to have a relationship with God in which you can cast your cares upon Him, you must have your sins forgiven by God’s grace. This happens through faith in Jesus Christ. We will talk more about this tomorrow night. But for tonight, let me just say that your greatest need is to know Christ. Without Him, you have no hope. Without Him, you have no one to cast your cares on. But once you know Christ, your greatest need has been taken care of. You will spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

In light of that, all the things that worry about, though they may be significant, are only short-lived, and you’ll get through them, and Christ will be there with, to help you, through them all.