Casting Your Cares
Last week’s episode of The Remarkable Life Podcast focused on a reality every one of us faces at some point in our lives: cares. It’s not if they’ll show up, it’s when. The kind of cares that I’m referring to are not tiny surface-level stressors or merely just being busy. I’m talking about the kind of internal weight we carry that quietly drains our energy, clouds our thinking, and pulls our lives in too many directions at once. The kind of cares that were designed by our Adversary to cripple us.
If we had a heads up that they were looming nearby on the horizon, then they might not be that bad because we could properly prepare ourselves for their arrival, but the reality is this: that cares often show up without warning. They come disguised as responsibility, pressures, or concerns. They attach themselves to our thoughts and settle into our routines. And if we’re not careful, they begin to shape how we think, influence how we make decisions, and dictate how we live. This can be a dangerous place to be.
Jesus actually warned His followers about the danger of uncast cares. In Mark 4:19, He said, “The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” I believe that word choke was used intentionally to convey a strong message about what could potentially happen in a person’s life if they carried what was designed to be handed over. That word choke reminds us that cares don’t usually arrive to destroy us outright. They crowd us. They restrict us. They slowly suffocate what God is trying to grow in us until our spiritual fruit begins to diminish.
That warning carries even more weight when you understand the biblical meaning behind the word care. Care is derived from the Greek word merimna means to be drawn in different directions, distracted, or scattered. That’s significant. Cares don’t just make life feel heavy. They fracture your focus and drain your strength. You may think that you’re tired because you’re busy, but you just might be tired because your mind and heart are being pulled in too many directions at the same time. This is done by intentional design because the devil knows that nothing wears a person down faster than living distracted and divided.
Cares Come in Categories
One of the reasons cares can be so difficult to manage is because they don’t all show up the same way. They surface in different areas of our lives depending on where we’re being pressed the hardest. For some, the weight is emotional. It shows up as stress, insecurity, fear, grief, or disappointment that quietly lingers beneath the surface and refuses to go away. For others, the pressure is financial, tied to bills, responsibilities, unmet goals, or the ongoing strain of trying to provide.
At times, the burden shows up relationally. Family tension, broken trust, difficult conversations, or friendships that feel strained can weigh heavily on the heart. Many also carry the weight of leadership and calling; the constant decision-making, the expectations, the spiritual responsibility, and the pressure that comes with being seen. Then there are health-related cares, sparked by doctor reports, unexplained symptoms, lingering fatigue, or the fear that something isn’t quite right.
Parenting and family concerns add another layer altogether, especially when your heart is tied to your children’s wellbeing, their future, and the choices they’re making. And for almost all of us, there are the cares of the unknown future uncertainty, transition, timing, and that quiet anxiety about what’s next.
More often than not, it’s not the size of any single care that overwhelms us; it’s the accumulation of carrying so many of them at the same time. When left unchecked, these cares don’t merely distract us. They restrict us. They choke what God is trying to grow in us and slowly diminish the fruit He desires to produce through our lives.
What Cares Do
Cares are never neutral. They don’t simply exist in the background of our lives; they always produce an effect. And more often than not, that effect works against what God desires to do in us and through us.
One of the first things cares do is weigh us down. They don’t always bring us to a complete stop, but they do slow our pace. They affect our momentum. Things that once felt manageable begin to feel exhausting, and even simple tasks require more energy than they should. We may still be moving forward, but everything feels heavier along the way.
Cares also have a way of clouding our judgment. When they take hold, our thinking begins to shift. We misread situations. We overthink decisions that should be simple. We assume the worst instead of trusting the best. Before long, we’re reacting out of pressure rather than responding with wisdom. The constant noise of worry makes it harder to hear God clearly, and peace becomes harder to maintain.
Over time, cares can even begin to affect our physical health. What we avoid addressing spiritually often shows up in our bodies. Cares can manifest as tightness in the chest, headaches, persistent fatigue, restless sleep, elevated stress levels, and a weakened immune system. This is why it’s possible to pray for healing while still holding onto the very thing that’s wearing us down. Our bodies often reveal what our souls have been carrying.
This is why learning how to deal with cares is not optional for a healthy spiritual life. If they remain unaddressed, they quietly interfere with the growth God desires to bring about in us.
How to Cast Your Cares
God never points out a problem without also offering help. When it comes to cares, He doesn’t leave us guessing about what to do next. He invites us into a way of living that’s lighter, freer, and less burdensome.
One of the ways that we do this is by simply naming what you’re carrying. That might sound small and trivial, but it’s not. You can’t release what you won’t acknowledge. Taking time to slow down and be honest about what’s weighing on you brings clarity. As long as a care stays unnamed, it has a way of lingering in the background, quietly influencing your thoughts, emotions, and decisions. This is a recipe for failure. We need to name the care.
The next thing that we are to do after naming what’s nagging us is to release it. Releasing your cares is intentionally handing off what’s weighing on you to Someone stronger than you. Jesus told us in 1 Peter 5:7 “to cast our cares upon Him, because He cares for us.” When you cast your cares upon the Lord, you’re saying, “I don’t have to carry this by myself anymore.” You’re not pretending the situation doesn’t exist, you’re simply choosing to ask someone else to carry that load. Essentially, you are saying, “Lord, this belongs to You.” This simple act has served me well in a wide variety of scenarios over the years.
The last piece to this puzzle is to replace what’s been weighing on you. You are intentionally making space for something better. When you let go of worry, it leaves a gap, and that space needs to be filled. Fill it with truth. Fill it with Scripture. Fill it with gratitude. Fill it with reminders of who God is and what He has already proven faithful to do time and again in your life. Over time, peace begins to take root where worry once lived, and your mind starts to quiet down.
Casting your cares isn’t a box that you merely check off once and move on from. It’s a rhythm you return to again and again, especially when walking through tough or trying seasons. It becomes a daily choice to let go which enables you to trust God in a deeper way which in turn helps to protect the peace God wants you to live in.
Closing Thoughts
If life feels heavy right now, pause for a moment before assuming something is wrong with you. Feeling weighed down is often a sign that you’ve been carrying more than you were ever meant to carry. And Jesus speaks directly into that place of exhaustion and strain when He says:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)
Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t tell us to push harder, figure it out on our own, or get stronger before coming to Him. He simply says, come. He invites the weary, the worn down, and the overwhelmed to walk with Him, to learn from Him, and to allow Him to carry the weight we were never meant to shoulder alone.
As you move through this week, pay attention to what’s been exhausting you. Not just physically, but internally. Bring those cares to Him. Exchange the heavy load you’ve been carrying for the lighter burden He offers. Rest doesn’t come from having fewer responsibilities; it comes from walking in step with the One who knows how to carry them.
You don’t have to have it all together to come to Jesus. You just have to be willing. And when you do, He promises rest for your soul.
I’m praying for you as you take that step this week learning to live lighter, trust deeper, and walk more closely with Him.
— Warren
🎧 Haven’t listened to Episode 14 of The Remarkable Life Podcast yet? Click below for the full teaching on Cast Your Cares: Practical Strategies to Cast Your Cares and Calm Your Mind and don’t forget to download The Practical Field Guide to Combatting Cares which is below as well.
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Don’t forget to download this resource! The Practical Field Guide to Combatting Cares
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