Are You Carrying Too Much? Learn How to Let Go of Worry and Cast Your Cares

Have you ever been in a season in your life where you just thought, I'm not gonna make it? Like, even if I make it out, I'm not going to make it out whole. Where you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders and you feel responsible, responsible for your job, responsible for your finances, responsible for your family dynamics, responsible for your marriage, responsible for your kids, responsible for your health, responsible for work, responsible for church, for your volunteerism, for the things that need to be done around the house. The list is so long. Your time is so short. And frankly, many of the things that you feel responsible for, you don't control. You are learning how to operate and navigate as a newly divorced woman. You are learning how to navigate with a parent who is difficult, whether it's a parent that you are actively engaged with or a parent who needs you to actively engage because they need care. Maybe you are in debt and you do not see the light of day of how to fix that. Maybe you are in a difficult marriage and no matter what you do, it doesn't seem to get better. Maybe you are navigating chronic pain or illness and simply just trying to figure out what is wrong so that you can fix it. Maybe you are trying to figure out what your purpose is, but you know your current job is not it. Maybe you are trying to make ends meet and no matter how you add up the numbers, it's still in the red. Maybe you are seeking God for your purpose. And you don't want to live your life and not realize your purpose, but you still don't know what your purpose is. There is a lot of stuff, y'all. There's a lot of stuff that can weigh on us. Even as I'm recording this and looking at the chat for the women who join me every Monday morning, I'm seeing toxic work environments, unhealthy communication in marriage. I am seeing staying home and wanting to stay home, but not being able to make ends meet. I am. Seeing women talk about, do I sell this house and do I move and buy another one? Do I stay put? Do I fix the house I'm in? I see women talking about dealing with grief and I'm trying to learn how to navigate this new normal. I'm seeing fear of death. I am seeing dealing with autistic children and marriages that are struggling. I'm seeing, um, accounts that you're trying to reconcile, debt that you're trying to get out of. Do I file bankruptcy or do I fight my way out of this situation? The family dynamics with in-laws, um, children that are failing to thrive, that are not getting out of school, getting out of high school, getting out of college and moving forward. I'm seeing people that are struggling in all kinds of ways. So the Inner Circle girls are struggling. The Sister Circle girls at large, anybody who loves God and loves women and the gathering of women of faith, you're struggling. The men that are here that sneak in the room are struggling. And I know that if you're 21 or 25 and you're watching, you're like, woo, y'all old people are struggling with all the things. Yo time is coming too. And you may feel like you're struggling now. Maybe you are in your mid-20s or mid-30s and you are struggling because you're lonely. And this relationship, he's not the one, but you're afraid to let him go because will there be another? Or you haven't had a date in the last 5 years and you're wondering if you will even ever have one again. I understand. You're going to go through life. This is truth. You are going to go through life. I want to make sure you're hearing me. This is your big sister talking. You are going to go through life and you're going to have troubles. Jesus told his disciples, "In this life, you will have troubles, but don't worry, you have overcome the world. Don't worry, I'm going to leave you, but the Comforter will come. You won't be alone." I am with you. I will not forsake you. I am a very present help in the time of trouble. I am your refuge and your strength. I am your vindicator. Trouble will come. And I don't want to teach you this morning about how good God is in trouble. I'm gonna, I'm gonna let the word of God teach you that this morning. I just read a bunch of scriptures and I'll share those with you at the end. But what I want to talk to you about is how to keep the fear off of you, how to keep the struggle off of you. I want to talk about how you can keep the pain, the anxiety off of you, because over and over again, we're told in the Bible, don't fear. If you're young and you have ever talked to someone older than you, they'll say, oh baby, don't worry about it. Don't worry. It'll get better. You know, and it— your whole world is blowing up. Or you're, you know, you don't have the guy to date and somebody says, oh, don't worry, girl, another guy will come along. Well, it's easy for you to say if you're married or you've been dating the same guy for 3 years. Don't worry, the doctors will find out what the answer is. Everybody tells you not to worry, but until you learn how to participate in your own release of anxiety, in your own release of fear, in your own release of, of stress and weight. You will never be free of it. The reason why we are told to cast the fear and be anxious for nothing is because we have to participate. Now y'all, I, I'm not necessarily a worrier. I am a little bit of a control freak. I mean, I, I'm an eldest daughter. I am an accountant by trade. I like the right answer. I believe in things being done decently and in order. I like to— I'm a finisher. I like I's dotted and T's crossed. I was recently told that I am commanding. I try to be nice, y'all, but apparently I'm commanding. And you know what? I received that. It just— it is what it is. I'm 52. It's not going to change. But what that means is that how I show up in my marriage, how I show up as a mother, how I show up in ministry when I'm leading at church, how I show up when I'm leading in my business, how I show up when I am in friendships, how I show up when I clean my house, how I show up when I go to the gym, how I show up when I talk to a doctor, it is assuming that there is an answer, and if I don't have it, I'll find it. I am the person who, if I'm working an algebra problem, okay, I'm gonna work it until I find the answer. I used to be— I'm not anymore, but I— you— because I don't have time. But I used to balance my checkbook, and if I couldn't find 3 cents, I was gonna go find it because the bank ain't gonna cheat me out of my 3 cents. Okay. That's my personality. Go to the end and figure it out. So if there is something in my life that I can't figure out, something in my life I cannot solve, something in my life that I cannot seem to figure out how to win with or win at, that creates a great level of distress for me. I'm a natural born leader. I've had to remember in my life to be a natural born leader because there are situations in my life that made me feel inept, um, not capable, or that I wasn't worthy. I've had to learn to realign myself with that wiring in my life. Um, that's a podcast for another day, but in this season of my life, recognizing and owning who I am, anxiety does not come to me because I'm a natural worrier. Fear does not come to me because I'm a naturally fearful person. I have those people in my life. I know what that looks like. That's not me. My fear and anxiety comes from things I can't control, things I can't figure out, things where I can't find the solution. And I do try, y'all. I am a Googling queen. I, I listen, I know how to figure anything out. So where I experience anxiety and fear are the things I can't figure out, the things I cannot control, the things I cannot see my way through. Whether you are a naturally fearful person, whether you are not, we will all have moments in our lives where anxiety and fear is a part of the emotions that will come. And when they come, what is your part? How can you debunk anxiety and fear and the role that it would seek to play in your life? Now, let me just make this caveat. I, I know that there are people who have chronic fear and anxiety. You need help with that therapy, a counselor, maybe you need medication. I'm not talking about extreme cases of anxiety and fear that are crippling, where you can't come out in the light of day. I'm talking about that eats away at your mind and soul. That just makes it so that you can't relax, that, you know, that, that makes it so that you can't sleep at night, or it stops you from living. I had a friend that was dealing with such deep anxiety. She just had someone pass in her life, and she was so afraid of their passing to be the way she went, and they died in a car accident. So for months she couldn't get in a car, and she had to work her way back into just being able to drive her kids to school. You have to cast your fear. Philippians tells us how. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. So when I think about the word casting, I think about somebody who is fly fishing and they take that fishing rod and they, you know, wind it up and then they throw it way out. And the goal is to catch something that's not right here. They cast it far away from them. They put their hook into a river far away to get something that is not close to them. The opposite of that is true for this this visual of casting. You have to put it far away from you. How do you do that? You have to keep bringing it back to God. Most of the time in the Bible when we're told, do not fear, don't worry, don't be anxious, when we're told that, it's paired with the messaging that God is with you. He is a refuge and strength. He is a present help in the time of trouble. That He is the reason why you don't have to worry. Psalm 23 tells us that you don't have to be afraid going through the valley of the shadow of death because God is with you. So the idea is that you are not alone and that there is someone who you can hand your load to. Have you ever gotten out of a car and needed help getting the groceries out of the car? We were growing up, my mother would drive up into the garage and she would honk her horn. And that was a symbol that whatever you were doing, because on Saturdays back then, listen, we watched Soul Train and then we watched Westerns. We started out with cartoons, then it was Soul Train, then it was Westerns.. But you knew when she pulled in the garage and honked the horn, you better get out and help out with the groceries because she wasn't supposed to carry all those groceries in herself. When I pull up, I'll text and I'll tell Jesse, hey, I'm pulling up with the girl. I'm pulling up from Costco. Send the boys out. And they know that's their cue to come out. I don't even, I don't carry anything in. I did the grocery shopping. So they bring everything in and I have everyone trained for what to take out. Y'all can put these things away. Leave these things for me to put away. Cause I want to organize my fridge, but y'all know where to put the paper towels. We have a whole whole system. I know that I'm not supposed to carry all that by myself. Just because I picked it up doesn't mean I have to carry it. And that's what I would say to you. Just because you have picked up something in this life, whether you intended to pick it up or not— everything I buy at the good Costco is not for me. I'm picking up some things that have nothing to do with me. If I buy the men's deodorant I don't do that. But I'm buying it because it's a part of the life that I'm living. Just because you picked it up, it doesn't mean you have to carry it. And the problem is, we forget that everything we pick up is not for us to carry. So what I do with the boys is, they're not near, I call them— ooh, this is about to preach— and I say, come pick this up. I come get this and pick it up. I'm not supposed to carry all this. Cast your cares, cast them. Why? Because the Lord cares for you. He actually wants to carry your groceries. He actually— be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known unto God. He needs to know you pulled up with something you don't want to or you can't carry. So this is what this looks like, y'all. This looks like a lot of prayer, but it also looks like a lot of casting. You feel it well up in your body. You feel it well up in your mind. And you tell yourself the truth. So when I've had seasons where I'm worried about my children, Let me tell you what casting doesn't look like. Casting doesn't look like talking about it a million times to a million different people. Casting does not look like ca— talking to them and telling them the same thing that they already know. Casting does not look like fixing it. There are a lot of things, y'all, I want to fix. One of my children that I was dropping off at college asked me for something. The answer was no, I wasn't going to buy it because last semester I said I wasn't going to buy it and I almost forgot it. That no, because you have to manage your money better and I'm not helping you if I keep swooping in and fixing it. So casting does not look like fixing it. Casting looks like, put this far away from me. Casting looks like I am laying it down somewhere and I'm going to do my best not to pick it up. Casting looks like it's not my problem. Casting looks like, I'm so sorry, I'm going to be thinking about how I can help, but I know I can't do that. Casting looks like, this is your project at work, coworker. I helped you the last 3 times. I really wish I could help you, but I'm getting behind on my own things and I've got to, I've got to focus. It looks like, and Lord, help me to be kind while I cast, because casting does not look like, well, that ain't my problem. You shouldn't have, you made that bed, you gonna have to lie in it. That's not what casting looks like. Casting looks like putting it far away from me by not allowing the anxiety and the fear that I feel about my situation to cause me to make bad decisions, bad relationship decisions, bad financial decisions, bad mental decisions. It looks like pushing it away and it is proactive and intentional. And it is also reactive. Proactive says, I know this is an issue, so I'm going to pray about it. I'm going to proactively stay in front of this. Proactive looks like I'm going to journal about it and I'm going to close my journal, put the pen in the journal and put the journal away. Proactive looks like getting your mind right and getting your script ready before you run into that situation. Before you go into the mall, I am going in for what I came for. I'm not spending another dime. Proactive looks like self-talk. Reactive looks like I didn't know I was going to be in this situation. I am feeling the anxiety and the fear rise. And reactive looks like in this situation, Lord, help me to say the right thing. Lord, help me to do the right thing. Reactive looks like I don't have an answer, so I will tell the person or in the situation, I'm going to think about it and get back with you. But the number one proactive or reactive thing that you can always do, is to just call out for help. God, help me right now. It sounds like something that, you know, you used to hear your mama and them say, Lord, help me, Jesus. But that's like a real prayer. It's like a real prayer to say, God, help me. When I'm worried about something and I can't go to sleep at night, which is rare, by the way, because I could sleep anywhere on a bed of nails. But when that does happen, or when I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it, my better telltale sign is that I'm dreaming about it. It's in, it's in my, it's embedded in my psyche and I'm dreaming about it. When I wake up, I, I take a pen. I write it down. Money enough? Question mark. Decisions. Financial decisions. How do I fix this? I may not even have a prayer. I put my pen down and I move the notebook to the other side of the room. If I wake up again, I go get my pen. I write down whatever's at the top of my mind. I move my notebook to the kitchen table. I keep physically engaging with my worry and intentionally giving it back. That's what prayer should look like. God, help me. Give me guidance. Help my fear. Show me what to do. Give me my daily bread. Now don't give me the big answer. Today, what do I do? What's my next step? There is a book called Calm My Anxious Heart. And it says it's a woman's guide to finding contentment. So it is definitely, definitely focused on contentment. But one of the things that keeps us from being content is anxiety. And that tip of writing it down and moving it away, I got from her. I want to give her the credit for that. But you just have to keep laying it down, laying it down by praying about it, giving it back to God again. Laying it down by literally not picking it up. It's not your problem to solve. Laying it down by writing it down, talking about it to a friend, not infinitum, but for the sake of saying, here's what I'm dealing with. Can you pray for me? Can you pray with me? But your friend is not God. Laying it down by getting it out of your head, out of your mouth, out of your body. And leaving it there. And when it would seek to creep back in, you get it out of your head, out of your mouth, and out of your body. You have to keep casting it because it's going to keep coming. It's like paper, you know, paper in your home. I have so much paper. Paper has become the bane of my existence, and I just feel like I just cleaned up. Why am I having to clean up again? You want to know why? Because the paper keeps coming. The paper from the school keeps coming. The paper from your job keeps coming. The paper from your banks keep coming. The Even if you're trying to go digital, it's like, how did this magazine get my phone number? The ad from the local pizza place. You have paper coming into your house all the time. The paper from the Bible study. You're gonna keep accumulating paper because paper's a part of life. People are always still giving you paper. So you have to constantly live in a state of decluttering paper because paper is always coming. There will always be something for you to worry about, always be something for you to be concerned about, always be something for you to be, to, to, to, to feel heavy about it. So you have to develop the art of being a constant declutterer of your anxiety, a constant declutterer of your worry, a constant declutterer of your concerns. So what does it look like to get rid of the paper? You go through it and you're like, I don't need that. You throw it away. You go through it. I don't need that. You go through it. Okay, I need this, but not right now. I'm gonna put it in its place. I'm not gonna spend all day on the phone about this today. I'm gonna make some time to talk to my husband about it on Friday night, but it's not going to arrest my day. When somebody comes to you with an emergency and you feel yourself get all out of whack, their urgency may not be an emergency for you. You have to learn how to say, this is not the place for that, can we meet about that at 2? It's going to keep coming, so you have to learn to keep casting. And some of us have not learned the art of casting. We simply keep worrying about it, we keep talking about it, we keep thinking about it, we keep trying to fix it. You know, it's not that we don't pray about it, but then we pray about it and then don't leave room for God to do anything at all. Some of the things that you are trying to fix, as soon as you take your hand off it, God will be able to actually put his hand on it. Does life feel out of control for you right now? Are you struggling to balance all the things? Well, what if I told you that you could have the best of planning your life well and doing that with your personal coach? I have put the best of a planner and the best of a personal coach in a tool that is going to help you straighten things out and focus on the priorities that matter most. Let me introduce you to the Full Circle Planner. What's different about this planner is I'm in it. My name is Chrystal Evans Hurst, and every week in this planner, every quarter, and at the beginning and the end of the year, I'm asking you the right questions at the right time so that you can find the right answers that will help you own your life. Listen, we only have this one life to live and your time and how you spend it matters. So if you're looking to gain clarity about what that means and the steps that you need for your life to do that, well, listen, I understand what that is and I know how to help you and I help you right here in these pages. Get your Full Circle Planner today. Sometimes my kids ask for help and then I say, well, do you want my help or not? Because I can't do anything with it. If you're still touching it. As long as you're still— I cannot come into your chaos. I cannot come into your mess. I can point you in a direction, and then you either want me to help you or you don't. That's God's conditions. You either want me to help you or you don't. Casting your cares is about you choosing to not own it. And I know that for many of you, you're like, how am I supposed to not own this diagnosis? I'm living with this every day. How am I supposed to not own the struggle with my husband? Like, is our marriage going to make it? I'm living with it every day. Daily bread. That's like asking, how am I supposed to own being hungry when I know I'm going to be hungry tomorrow? Daily bread. How am I supposed to, how am I supposed to own, you know, knowing that I'm going to refill my car when I know I'm driving and it's going to get empty. You— daily bread. You don't worry about filling up your car until it's time to fill up your car. Most of us don't worry. We don't— okay, it's like toilet paper during COVID Ain't nobody worried about toilet paper until everybody starts stealing toilet paper, and then all of a sudden you're freaking out. Am I going to have enough toilet paper? So we go and we binge on all the toilet paper, and we have more toilet paper than we could ever use. Because of fear. So we stockpile it, and we— our houses are decluttered. It's under our beds, it's in our closet, because we were afraid. So we stockpiled it because we didn't trust that tomorrow there would be more toilet paper. Feast or famine. Some of y'all are acting like tomorrow God doesn't have your situation. Tomorrow he doesn't have your finances. Tomorrow he doesn't have your spouse. Tomorrow he doesn't have your healing. Tomorrow He doesn't have an answer. So you stockpile the fear because you're like, I gotta hold it all. And you are then dealing with the weight and the cost of that. You can carry your own groceries in if you want to, but it's going to take you a lot longer and you're going to be a lot more exhausted because then you also got to put it away. God is saying, I am your helper. I am a very, very present help in the time of trouble. So that means you have to give it to him. Stop, stop stockpiling worry and anxiety as if God doesn't have an answer for your tomorrow. So you cast it by writing it down, by talking about it in productive spaces, by praying. You cast it by calming yourself. When you feel the butterflies start to rise, you take a deep breath. You refuse to own it. You refuse to let it sit with you. You use people that love you to pray with you, but you just keep kicking it out of your house. But it involves you physically doing it. Physically. You can't just go, I don't want to worry about that. No, you need to physically get it out. There's a difference between talking about it to get it out and talking about it to ruminate in it. You have to know the difference. If you're on the phone for 10, 15, 20 minutes talking about it, you are ruminating about it. If you have a girlfriend who you can text and say, hey, the weight of the worry of my debt is on me today, please pray for me that the Holy Spirit would arrest the anxiety and give me peace, That is casting. Girl, let me tell you about— let me tell you, I went, I could not believe that this was my interest payment this month, and oh my gosh, I'm looking at all— they're doing layoffs at work, and what happens if I can't pay this bill, and I may have to go into bankruptcy. That's ruminating. Casting is like the difference between getting a yogurt and a, and a, and a Nutri-Grain bar or a KIND bar and walking out the door and making homemade pancakes eggs and bacon with whipped cream and strawberries. One is ruminating, one is casting. I gotta get up out of here. There's a reason why I only make pancakes and bacon and all the things on a Friday, because Fridays give me a longer time to be in the kitchen. But I tell the kids all the time, if you don't— if you're short on time, if you got to go to work, if you got to do X, Y, and Z, here are your short things because you need to eat breakfast and you need to get out the door. That's a cast breakfast. Pancakes is a ruminating breakfast. Ruminating means you're swimming in it. Ruminating means you are under the water, you are diving into it. Casting just means it's a hot day, so I'm gonna sit at the edge of the pool and just put my, put my, put my toes in. Do you see the difference? Casting is action. You have to take action. It is not marinating. Some of y'all are feeling the depth of anxiety and stress because you keep ruminating in it, marinating in it, talking about it, trying to fix it. You are doing too much. Casting looks like, I felt it, I've done my part, I trust you. Casting looks like I've talked about it. I said my piece. I'm praying for them. Casting looks like I had a plan. I'm worried if the plan is going to work or not, but I'm going to keep working my plan. Casting looks like I'm trying to catch something and I'm not going to catch it here, so I gotta let it go out there. And the good thing is, is that God is like, listen, I'm like the Alpha and Omega. I've been around forever. I'm very strong and mighty. You can give it to me. I am currently personally feeling— I have anxiety and fear, and I'm not an anxious person, but I have some anxiety and fear right now about some financial stuff. I have anxiety and fear for my children. I have anxiety and fear deeply embedded about health. You know, once you've gone through one thing in your life that is totally out of control, and where did that come from? You're always like, when is the shoe gonna drop? I have anxiety and fear about a lot of things, but one of the things I have learned is how to cast. All I know is that all I can do is what I can do, and then I have to give the rest to the Lord. All I can do in relationships is say my peace, be as kind as God wants me to be, love others well, and that I have to lay it before the Lord. And that looks like praying about it a lot. That when I feel like I want to say something, instead of saying something, I cast. When I feel like I want to figure it out, instead of figuring it out, I cast. When I feel like I can't control the narrative, I, I choose to think about things that are good and right and just and beautiful. Because that's what the word tells us to do. Think on these things. I choose to think about what could go right, and then all the things that could go wrong, I cast it, and then I speak against it based on the blood of Jesus. Because I, I refuse to let the enemy plant things in my head that then cause the things that I was ruminating about. And see, that's the other part of this. When you are ruminating on it, you are giving room for the enemy to build. You are creating foundation for him to build on the things that you say out of your mouth. So what I just said, I'm about to cancel that out. The Lord is my provider. He is my God who owns a cattle on a thousand hills. Whatever I need, he has. He is a God who will supply all my needs according to his riches, and I have a rich Father according to his riches in glory. I have a God who does good things for his children. If a father on earth would give their father a fish, why would my God give me a stone? I serve a God who is abundant, in whom there is no lack. When he sent Adam and into the garden, there was one tree that they could not have. There were a plethora of trees that they can have. So I believe in the Lord for not only my financial wellbeing, but my financial overflow, and that everyone who is connected to me would have financial overflow too, because I am choosing to walk out trust and faith. That is casting, an example of casting. I love my children, but you love them more than I do. You created them. You know how they're intricately wired. When I don't understand them, you understand them, and you are the only one who can call them by name. So I say, as I did when they were younger, What I'm worried about, what I see as they get older, I say, Lord, they belong to you. And I ask that through the power of the blood of the Lamb, that you would arrest their heart, arrest their mind, that you say in your word that you are the one who draws all men unto you. And all men include my children. They have been planted. I have put the seeds in. I have done my part, and ultimately they have to choose you. And so I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit might arrest their souls, arrest their minds, and cause them to not be able to run from you. I believe that my children, all of my daughters and all of my My sons will worship you and will operate in the power of the Holy Spirit that is arresting and casting. I give them to you. And Lord, keep me from solving their problems. I am not their solution. And if I continue to be their solution, they will never have a reason to run to you. Lord, my body is operating in a state of healing. You put all of my cells together. You knew me, Psalm 139, before the day I was born. You crafted me and put me together in my mother's womb. There is nothing that happens in my body that catches you off guard. So I I speak health and healing over my body, that things that would align with your word because of your creation, that they would get in line. And then I also speak to my mind and my will so that I would make decisions that put my body into a state of healing. Because at this point, with all this learning that I've had, I know what that is. And so, Lord, forgive me for where I have not agreed with your plan of healing for my body based on your plan of what I eat and how I move. And Lord, I just know that if I agree with you, that my health, my body is in your hands. That is casting. And sometimes casting doesn't look like power. Sometimes casting looks like tears. And Lord, help me, help them, help it, show me, guide me. But casting means You get it off of you. If somebody told you that you had a bug, a spider crawling up your back, let's be specific, what would you do? That's what you do. That's what you do. You would get it off of you, correcto? Correcto, mundo. You would get it off of you because you don't want that spider crawling up your back. It doesn't belong there. You would get it off. Get that anxiety off of you. Do whatever it takes to get it off. Get that fear off of you. Do whatever it takes to get it off. Get it off of you. Why? Because it ain't supposed to be on you. It's not supposed to be a part of your DNA. You got to learn to get it off you, girl. You got to learn to get it off you. You got to learn to speak to yourself, to speak life, to encourage yourself. As David had to do. And it doesn't mean you fake it. You can be honest about your fears. It just means once you feel it, get it off. I want to pray a prayer of release for your fear and anxiety. Before I do that, I want to just read some scriptures, um, over you, if that's okay, just to have some arsenal in your pocket for those days when the anxiety or the fear of the situation that you're in grips you, grips your mind, grips your heart, and kind of renders your mind or your body or your emotions useless. Like you just feel a little stuck. So in 2 Peter 1:3, the Bible tells us that we have everything we need for life and godliness and renewing our minds through the living word of God is proof of that. So what you need to combat your pain point is in the word of God. What you need to build strength as you navigate that relationship is in the word of God. What you need to deal with loneliness or financial difficulties, it's in the Word of God. What you need to do to be a good wife to an unbelieving or difficult husband is in the Word of God. What you need to do, what you need to know to navigate a challenging or a strained relationship, it's in the Word of God. Everything you need for life and godliness is in the Word of God. Here are some verses that may help you navigate. The anxiety, the fear, the overwhelm from whatever your circumstances may be. Isaiah 41:10 says, Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, I am God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. You don't have to fear because he's holding you. Hebrews 13:5b-6 says, For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. We can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to you?" Even if you are afraid that that other person, that coworker, that boss, that spouse, that friend, that sibling, that parent is going to eat your lunch, God is with you. He will not fail. So you can confidently say, "He is my helper. I will not fear. Man can do nothing to me." And even when man does, He doesn't have the last word. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay. 2 Timothy 1:7, for God gives us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. So when the fear rises, you combat that by telling your soul, soul, this spirit is not what God has given me. He has given me power and love and a sound mind, self-control. Psalm 23:4, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear." It's a decision. I choose to combat the fear that I feel. "You are with me. Your rod and your staff, they will comfort me. They will guide me. They will direct me. Even when it looks dark, you are with me. I'm not going through this alone." Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them. Do not fear. God has not given you a spirit of fear. Do you see the thread here? Don't fear. Don't be in dread of other people because it's the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. John 14:27, this is what Jesus said: Peace. I leave peace with you. Peace I give to you. It's not as the world gives to you.. It's not what the world does. So don't let your heart be troubled. Your heart may be feeling troubled. Let not your heart be troubled. You can decide what's happening here. Your emotions are guiding you. They don't govern you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Why? Because Psalm 27:1 says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. It goes back to the Lord being with you. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is my stronghold of life. Whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 46:1-3. God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. We will not fear even though earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. Like your whole world is falling off the edge of the earth. The mountains are diving into the sea. Like that's how traumatic of an event these things are in your life. Though the waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble, earthquakes, things are blowing up. God is your refuge and your strength, and he is your help in trouble. Psalm 55:22 says, cast your burden upon the Lord. He will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 91, he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say To the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, you are the God in whom I trust. 1 Peter 5:7 says to cast all your care upon the Lord. Psalm 55 said the same thing, cast your burden on the Lord. I hope that today I have given you some tangible examples of what it looks like to cast. You write it down, you move the notebook, you pray, you talk to a friend, you keep it succinct, you don't ruminate. You don't stay there. You don't own it. You don't fix it. You give it. You do whatever God has commanded you to do, and then you give it. Lord, you have told us in your word not to operate in fear. We don't have to fear. In fact, sometimes fear is a ploy of the enemy to keep us from moving into the areas that you are calling us to operate in faith. You have told us not to fear. You don't live there. You've told us not to be anxious. We should not live there, but you've also given us an antidote. You told us to cast, to get it off of us. And Lord, as I've tried to give some examples today of what that looks like, I pray that you would allow these women to practice casting, that they would get it off of them. Because when we walk in fear, that means we're not walking in faith. The two cannot coexist. One has to win. Would we feed our faith more than we feed our fear? And would we trust that we serve a God who, because he told us so many times in the word not to fear, that that means he doesn't want us to carry it? Help us to stop carrying our own groceries. Help us to call you when we need help and let you carry what we were never designed to carry. And then, because we have given over our fear, would you allow our faith to be evident, to be strong? Would you allow allow our lives to be powerful, for the witness of how we live and for what you accomplish in our lives to be undeniably attributable to you. And when we walk in faith, so we get to participate with the amazing things that you're doing in this world. Promised lands aren't conquered with people who are focused on fear instead of faith. Battles aren't won with people who are focused on fear instead of faith. Families aren't saved by people who are focused on fear instead of faith, help us to own faith by casting fear. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.