Cast Your Anxiety on Him

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:6-7

Most of the time dreams are just dreams. Dreams are our brains interpreting our feelings in a general sense, reflecting on something we have experienced or seen, or they can reflect anxieties that we may not even be aware of. I don’t think of myself as an anxious person. I have heard friends who struggle with anxiety disorders who talk about replaying even small, often unimportant, situations repeatedly in their head. They are concerned they’ve snubbed someone or been socially awkward.

Recently, I had a dream where I stole a pair of faux leather pants from a college friend’s New York city apartment. When I put them on, they were backwards and I wandered around the city visiting the sites, but every place that should have been a tourist destination I felt embarrassed and ridiculous as I snapped photos in these ill-fitting pants. When I woke up, I thought, could that have been about anything I should reflect on or pray about? It was a silly dream, but perhaps exposed an anxiety of mine. I think it would be an over-interpretation if I explained its meaning as, “the dream is about trying to have a good work-life balance, or it is about trying to find the right “fitting” worship leader.” Likely, the dream was a mash-up of these feelings. Do you have feelings of anxiety about a circumstance in your life? Let’s remember together that we should cast all anxieties on God knowing that God will treat us gently and will care for us.  (The occasional worry is different from having an anxiety disorder. God cares for people who struggle with both!) 

In Christ,
Rev. Elyse Milligan Nielsen