1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

The opportunities were few and far between. I had just graduated from seminary, and many applications had been sent out, but few churches responded, and those who did were not interested. I was trying to wait patiently…but I was discouraged. In the meantime, I was painting for a man named Pancho, who owned several apartment complexes in the Dallas area. He kept asking me if I had found a church opportunity. One day, he said, “I guess God needs painters more than preachers.” He said it in jest, but it hit hard.

The condo Lori and I had lived in during seminary was being sold, so on a hot Dallas day, I was driving around looking for a new place to live. For some reason, we had a children’s cassette tape in our car called Psalty, the Song Book. This was the pre-kid period of our lives, but I decided to listen to it. God knew that I needed to hear a particular song to encourage my heavy heart.

Lost in the woods, Psalty started singing a simple message based on our passage today: I cast all my cares upon you. I lay all of my burdens down at your feet. And anytime I don’t know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon you. I rewound the tape and played that tune over and over.

I had studied 1 Peter 5:7—in Greek! But God gave me this experience to dislodge the truth of God’s Word from my mind and let it penetrate my heart. I was as discouraged, confused, and fearful as Psalty. All my efforts to “fix” my situation drove me deeper into the “woods.” So, I had to make a conscious decision to cast my anxiety on God. I didn’t understand what God was doing but knew he cared for me. And you know what? The next day, I got an offer from a church. No, that didn’t happen. Nothing continued to happen. I kept playing Psalty’s song. I finally took a job teaching and coaching in a public school. I was there for four-and-a-half years before I was hired for a full-time church position. I sang this song a lot during those years…and still do. I cast all my cares upon you. I lay all of my burdens down at your feet. And anytime I don’t know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon you.

Father, thank you for my Psalty experience. Thank you for loving me so much that you would use a children’s song to speak a powerful truth into my discouraged heart. Some reading this are discouraged today. I pray you would give them their Psalty experience to remind them of your deep love. In Christ’s name. Amen.