Backpacking without the Pack.
learning to cast your cares on Him...
Most of us know this parable of Jesus: The farmer goes out to sow seeds. Some fall on the path and get eaten up by the birds. Some fall on the rocks and sprout quickly. But they get scorched because they lack roots. Other seeds fell on thorns and got choked. And yet some seed fell on good soil, yielding thirty, sixty, and hundred times the harvest.
Jesus is so kind as to explain this one to us. The seed is the word of God. The soil represents the hearts of those who receive it. For the seeds that fall on the thorns, He explains, “the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word.”
In the last week, I know I’ve been choked by all three:
worries of this age
deceitfulness of wealth
desires for other things
As a young girl in her mid-twenties, my paraphrase would be something like this:
All the “shoulds” everyone tells me I need to do to save for retirement, budget, stay healthy, enjoy my youth, and work hard, among others…
The Instagram posts of all these influencers making six figures off their iPhones and how they are finally living the “life of their dreams.”
My over-obsession with my health, side gigs, and future dreams that slowly draw me away from God.
I imagine these often choke us no matter what stage of life we are at. There always seems to be something everyone is worried about. We will always be tempted to want more money when it’s this easy to compare our lives with each other on social media. There are a billion things to focus on that slowly steal our love for God away from being central in our hearts.
Jesus doesn’t clearly tell us how to cultivate “good soil” in our own lives in this passage. But the apostle Paul gives us what I believe is an important key. He writes in 1 Peter 5: 7-8:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
The adversary is looking for someone to devour, to choke. And isn’t it interesting Paul’s recommended defense is to “cast all your cares on [God]?”
According to Blue Letter Bible, the word “casting” is the Greek word, epiriptō. It means, “to throw upon, to cast upon, give up to.”
The only other time this word is used in the New Testament is in Luke 19:35, “And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing [epiriptō] their cloaks on the colt.”
I love that image. I can feel what the word means. After a long day of work, you come home, throw your jacket on the couch, sit down, and sigh. The work is done.
THAT is epiriptō.
And that’s the very way God wants us to give up our care to Him. Casting your cares is an act of transfer, a handing over, and a giving up of control.
I didn’t grow up fishing a ton. So when I go fishing it definitely requires an act of God for me to catch anything. I put on the bait, give it a good cast, and sit. There’s nothing more that can be done on my end to catch anything.
But so often my cares and worries feel more like the heavy backpack I wear when I go backpacking in the wilderness. When you go backpacking, it’s up to you to carry everything you need to survive. And let me tell if you haven’t gone backpacking before, it gets HEAVY. Even though I only pack one pair of clothes and decent backpacking gear, I find dessert to be essential. And let’s just say my pack is often filled with a few extra “essentials.” It adds up. I’ve never gotten to the end of a day after backpacking with shoulders that don’t hurt, or feet that aren’t slightly numb.
I’ll never forget the feeling of taking off my pack after a 19-mile day. It’s exhilarating. It’s epiriptō.
You don’t realize how much you are carrying until it’s lifted.
Every thru-hiker and backpacker is always trying to lighten the load. We all know we go further with a lighter load.
God knows this too.
I think life with Jesus is meant to be like backpacking without the pack. You spend the day hiking through stunning cliffs and vistas and arrive at the campsite. A Middle Eastern man with pierced hands gives you a pack with a tent, sleeping pad, cookware, cribbage board, Spanish rice for dinner, and chocolate. Imagine that!
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good backpacking trip. But would it be better if I didn’t have to carry everything? Could I walk farther? Of course!
That’s the life I think God has designed for us. Sure, we have to put up the tent, prepare dinner, and blow up the sleeping pad, but He has said, “All these things will be provided for you.” (Matthew 6:33.)
So lately as I sit down to pray in the mornings with my tea in hand, I have started most days with quite a bit of epiriptō-ing. Sometimes I journal my cares. Sometimes I walk them off. Each time the feeling of “taking off the pack” is beyond freeing.
I realize why God says He provides what we need for the day:
We aren’t designed to carry it.
And yet, so often I do. So often I start my day without casting my cares. By the end, my shoulders hurt and my feet are going numb.
Today more than ever, we are inundated with cares. Our lives don’t only revolve around close-knit communities and our families. If you open a newspaper, you’ll learn of wars oceans away, world hunger, and human trafficking of millions on the rise locally and globally. I think we all feel a little overwhelmed.
Of course, we want to care. But how do we care for the whole world?
We cast our cares. We give them up.
We say, “God I can’t hold millions of trafficking victims in my hands, but you can. I can’t even hold my own marriage in my hands, but you can. Here are my cares for today.”
And it’s in that beautiful exchange of giving them up that we find true humility, productivity, centeredness, breakthrough, and impact.
Because our cares are now where they belong.
For the One,
P.S. I’d love to hear what ways you cast your cares on God this week. Leave a comment to share and offer inspiration for others.
P.P.S. If you think of someone who would appreciate this post, share it with them. I’m beyond grateful for this platform to share my inspirations and grow as a writer. And also, it’s more fun to discuss with friends!