I have never been much of a fisherman. The one fishing experience that I can recall occurred when I was younger than five, and I caught a fish that in my estimation was huge, only to be corrected years later when I was recounting the story that it probably wasn’t bigger than a few inches. Still in my young mind, it was a successful endeavor, and since it is the only time I have gone fishing, I have a perfect record when it comes to the sport.
Despite my lack of expertise in the subject, I do know at least a couple things about how it is supposed to work. One thing I know is that if you are casting nets to catch the swimming creatures, you cast them while they are empty. Casting full nets wouldn’t make sense. The goal is to use the nets to take fish out of the ocean and bring them into the boat. Not only would full nets be heavy (and therefore difficult to cast), but they would also defeat the purpose of the whole fishing experience since they would allow the “caught” fish to get away. Slinging empty nets into the water is how fisherman accomplish their task.
However, just as a fisherman throws an empty net into the water to catch fish, we are told in I Peter 5:7 to cast our anxieties upon God. The surprising thing, however, is unlike a fish-less net, our anxieties are heavy and burdensome. As a fisherman, Peter would have been used to the relative ease with which nets were put into the water, and the toil required to bring the full nets out but the inverse is happening here. The weight is being thrown out – but not into water. Instead, we are throwing our anxieties on to God; the One who created the wind and the waves (and the fish that swim within them) and the One Who is powerful enough, and loving enough, to bear whatever we throw His way.
In our modern age, it may surprise some to learn that Scripture calls us to interact with our worries in this way. After all, some people act as if Scripture says to ignore or suppress our concerns, not pick them up and heave them. But just as fishermen put the empty net in the sea desiring to pull something of value from it, we cast our burdens upon God and in exchange get something of infinite value in return – the peace that passes all understanding which guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4;7). We give God the heaviness that weighs down our souls, and in its place, He gives us His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light (Mt 11:28-30). We cast with full hearts and are filled with solace and comfort in return.
However, while this may sound good in practice, often we refuse to make this exchange. This is because we fail to consider what immediately proceeds Peter’s exhortation. Right before he exhorts his readers (and us) to cast all our anxieties on God, Peter instructs them (and us) to humble ourselves before God (I Peter 5:6). In other words – before we are prepared to throw our worries on to God, we must recognize that there is nothing in and of ourselves that we can do about them. No amount of fretting will change our circumstances. Instead of relying on our own abilities and inclinations, we have to place our confidence in Him. It is only when we have first humbled ourselves that we are truly prepared to be relieved of our burden and rely on God to carry it instead.
Casting full nets into the ocean wouldn’t make sense but casting full hearts upon our good and sovereign God makes all the sense in the world. Only He can truly bear the weight of our worries; only He can work in and through them to bring about our good and His glory (Ro. 8:28). As we trust Him to use our innermost and deepest struggles to conform us increasingly into the image of His Son (Ro. 8:29), we can also trust that in our lives He is able to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20) as we depend on Him.
