This series explores the freedom of surrender. Not surrender as giving up, but surrender as learning to trust the goodness of God more deeply than our need for control. Along the way, we'll discover that surrender is not losing our lives—it is finding them safely held in the hands of the One who loves us perfectly.
Open Hands (Part Two)
What Are You Carrying That Was Never Yours?
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7
One of the lessons I seem to keep learning is that there is a difference between caring deeply and carrying heavily.
For a long time, I thought they were the same thing.
If I loved someone, I worried about them.
If I cared about an outcome, I carried it.
If someone was struggling, I felt responsible for helping fix it.
That all seemed noble enough until I began noticing how tired it was making me.
And how little peace remained when I tried carrying what was never mine to carry.
The Weight We Quietly Pick Up
Most of us don't wake up intending to carry the world.
It just happens.
A child we love.
A relationship that feels fragile.
A decision with no easy answer.
A future we cannot control.
Little by little, concern becomes a burden and a burden becomes a weight.
And before long, we are carrying people in our minds that God has been carrying in His heart all along.
The Burden Beneath The Burden
I think much of our anxiety comes from forgetting who is God and who is not.
We love people and want the best for them. We want healing, wisdom, protection, and good outcomes.
Those desires are beautiful.
But somewhere along the way we begin assuming responsibility for things that belong to God alone.
We start carrying outcomes instead of offering love.
And the weight becomes exhausting.
Placing Them Back Into His Care
One of the most meaningful pictures of surrender for me is simply opening my hands before God.
Not because the people I love matter less.
Because they matter too much to leave in my care alone.
I can love them, pray for them, and walk beside them.
But I cannot be their savior...that role has already been filled.
The Hands That Care More Than Mine
Peter does not tell us to cast our cares upon God because He is stronger than us.
Though He is.
He tells us to cast them upon Him because He cares for us.
The invitation to surrender has always been relational.
It grows from the heart of a Father whose care is deeper than our worry and whose love is greater than our ability to carry the people and situations we place into His hands.
Reflection
What am I carrying that was never mine to carry?
Who do I need to place back into God's hands today?
How might my life change if I trusted His care more deeply?
Prayer
Abba Father, teach me to trust Your care more than my worries. Help me release what was never mine to carry and rest in the love that faithfully holds both me and those I love. Amen.