“Can we meet for a chat?”

The words of an email from my boss today.

They give away nothing and possibilities whir in my head.

Are they downsizing? Did I take too long on my lunch break? Did I say something stupid…? Is there something in my teeth? (OK, maybe not that last one).

I haven’t suffered from anxiety for a while, but today it’s peaking.

My washing machine back home’s broken and the clothes are piling up; my son had a meltdown before vacation care; I had four hours’ sleep; my husband is overseas right when a 2500 word college essay is due and the kids are going crazy; and now this: I’m about to get fired – or at least that’s where I’ve gone in my head.

It’s amazing how sneaky our minds can get sometimes.

Our thoughts dart this way and that, sometimes in overdrive.

Dire possibilities and worst-case scenarios take centre stage, grasping for a captive audience.

It’s so easy to indulge them when we’re already physically tired, spiritually depleted, and emotionally spent.

But the Bible tells us to do something proactive when our minds are set to worry mode.

I Peter 5:7 says: “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”

Peter doesn’t say to wallow in our worries, turning them over and over in our head until we need a stiff drink.

He says to cast them onto Jesus – throw them on his back, in a sense.

We need to make the choice not to carry them anymore – not to give them so much power.

And we do all this remembering that he cares deeply for us.

He’s not a stranger to what we’re going through.

He understands pain, and suffering, and everyday frustrations.

And he’s more than willing to carry the weight for us.

Cast your worries on him because why?

He cares for you. How amazing. How freeing.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what my boss wanted to talk to me about, it was to tell me I’d passed my three-month probation.

She told me the team was really happy with me, and she even gave me cake.

Not so bad huh?

Oh, and I came home to a whole stack of washing – not dirty washing, but CLEAN, PRESSED, and FOLDED washing. A friend from church who knew our machine was broken did the whole lot for me while I was at work.

Maybe I shouldn’t have wasted so much time worrying when God had a pretty awesome plan to turn things around for good.

I’ll try and remember that for next time.

God bless you as you cast your worries on Jesus today, beautiful friend.

Ali