Leaning Into The God Who Cares | Pastor Tim Payne

Momentum Church

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Leaning Into the God Who Cares: How to Cast Your Cares on Him

When life brings a storm, it is natural to say, "What a storm." In this message, Pastor Tim Payne points us toward a better confession: "What a God." The storm may be real, the weight may be heavy, and the need may feel urgent, but God is not distant from His people in the middle of it.

The central encouragement comes from 1 Peter 5:7: "Casting all your cares on him, for he cares for you." That verse is short, but it speaks directly to anxiety, discouragement, unanswered prayer, family burdens, financial pressure, marriage struggles, and the kind of spiritual fatigue that can make a person want to stop praying altogether.

God Is Present in the Storm

Pastor Tim begins by reflecting on the storm that had affected the community. He reminds the church that the storm did not come to stay, it came to pass. The sun still came up, the church was still standing, and God was still on the throne.

Instead of simply gathering as usual, the church paused and went out to serve. People checked on neighbors, cooked meals, helped with generators, cut down trees, removed branches, and helped rebuild fences. Those simple acts of service became a way to carry the presence and love of God into places where people were hurting.

One story centered on a single mom with four children whose property had been damaged by fallen trees. After helping her, Pastor Tim joked that she owed $3,700, then quickly told her it was free because Jesus loved her. More importantly, they prayed over her and her family, reminding her that God loved her and saw her.

That moment captures a key theme of the message: the goodness of God leads people toward Him. Love is attractive. Serving is a witness. Prayer matters. The church does not only talk about God’s care, it gets to show it.

Keep Casting, Even When You Feel Discouraged

To explain the word "casting," Pastor Tim tells a fishing story from childhood. The first fish he ever caught was a carp, caught with a hot dog. Later, on a youth fishing trip, he cast a rod as hard as he could and thought he had hooked a huge fish. Instead, he had caught the hair of Sergio’s wife.

The result was fear, embarrassment, and hesitation. After that, he did not want to cast again very quickly. That story becomes a picture of what can happen in prayer. We cast a care toward God, but if the answer does not come the way we hoped, when we hoped, or how we expected, we can grow hesitant. We may create more and more distance between our prayers.

But 1 Peter 5:7 says "casting," not "cast once." Pastor Tim connects this with Jesus’ teaching to ask, seek, and knock. The call is to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. Prayer is not meant to be a one time toss followed by quiet resignation. It is an ongoing act of trust.

He also points to the Old Testament story of Elisha telling his servant to go look for rain seven times. If it took repeated looking and waiting then, it may also take repeated praying and trusting now.

  • Keep praying for the coworker who needs Christ.
  • Keep bringing grief, miscarriage, disappointment, or delay to God.
  • Keep praying over the dream, the business, the child, the marriage, or the relationship.
  • Keep believing that unanswered prayer is not the same as unheard prayer.

Cast All Your Cares, Not Just the Polished Ones

The verse says to cast all your cares on Him. Not some of them. Not only the parts that sound spiritual. Not only the prayers you would feel comfortable saying out loud in front of others. All of them.

Pastor Tim makes the point plainly: if it bothers you, bring it to God. God already knows your heart. Nothing you say will surprise Him. Your worries, anxiety, fears, problems, personality struggles, anger, childhood wounds, temptation, bills, car trouble, family concerns, and workplace pressure can all be brought to Him.

He also pushes back on the idea that it is somehow more spiritual not to pray for yourself. He points to Jabez, whose name was connected to pain, yet who asked God to bless him, enlarge his coast, keep His hand on him, and keep him from sin, shame, and pain. Scripture does not shame honest prayer. It invites it.

Jesus Shows Us Where to Take the Weight

One of the strongest moments in the message comes from Pastor Tim’s reflection on the Garden of Gethsemane. From the Mount of Olives, looking toward the Old City of Jerusalem, he considers the place where Jesus carried the weight of the world and prayed to the Father.

Jesus asked His closest friends to pray, but they slept. Pastor Tim describes how, after a shared meal and the Lord’s Supper, their tiredness becomes more understandable. Still, while they slept, Jesus leaned into the Father and prayed, "Father, take this cup from me," and then surrendered, "not my will, but your will be done."

Before Jesus carried the cross, He carried the weight to the Father. That matters for anyone carrying something heavy today. If Jesus brought His anguish, distress, and surrender to the Father, we are invited to do the same.

Why You Can Let Go

The reason 1 Peter 5:7 gives is deeply personal: "for he cares for you." Pastor Tim highlights that the verse does not only say God cares for people in general. It says He cares for you. Put your name there. Bring your real burden there. Trust that God’s care is not abstract, distant, or impersonal.

To make the point practical, he uses the image of heavy luggage at the airport. Some people travel light, while others try to carry everything. Many of us live the same way spiritually, dragging more weight than we were meant to carry, trying to smile as if it is manageable.

But when the burden is too heavy to cast, Pastor Tim says you can simply drop it at God’s feet. Let go. Leave it with Him. Stop reeling it back in after you pray. Ask for daily strength not to pick it back up.

A Simple Prayer for Heavy Cares

If you are carrying a lot right now, this message offers a simple way to respond. Bring the care to God honestly. Name the weight. Release it to Him. Thank Him that He cares for you. Then ask Him for strength to leave it in His hands.

You do not have to pretend the storm was small. You do not have to deny the burden is heavy. You can say, "God, I cannot carry this. I do not even have the strength to cast it anymore, so I am dropping it at Your feet."

The storm came to pass. God remains. Keep on casting, cast it all, and remember why you can trust Him with it: He cares for you.

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