No Fishing
I remember exactly where I was. I was driving in Orlando, Florida, coming off the turnpike and making a long, sweeping turn underneath the freeway. As I rounded the curve, I noticed a pond off to the right. At that exact moment I was listening to a pastor teaching about casting our cares upon the Lord. He explained that the word cast is not a passive word. It is physical. It means to throw, to hurl, to deliberately lift something off of yourself and release it. Not gently set it down. Not temporarily hand it over. But to rid yourself of it.
As I looked at that pond, I imagined taking every anxiety, every fear, every burden, every situation I was trying to control, and physically throwing it in. And then he gave an illustration that I have never forgotten. He said when you cast your cares onto the Lord, there is a sign by that pond that reads, “No fishing.” You do not get to go back in after it.
Scripture says,
“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
The word casting carries the idea of throwing something upon another. Lifting it off your shoulders and placing it fully onto His. He never designed you to carry what only He can sustain.
And yet how often do we cast something at night and then wake up the next morning, grab the briefcase, pick up the backpack, sling the purse over our shoulder, zip up the gym bag, and quietly slip that same worry back inside? We cast it yesterday. But today, we are fishing again.
I love how Pastor Jon Courson explains that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Seated. The work finished. Authority established. Victory secured.
“It is finished.”
John 19:30
“He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Hebrews 1:3
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Matthew 28:18
He is not pacing in heaven. He is not anxious about your circumstance. He is not unsettled by your diagnosis, your meeting, your uncertainty. He is seated in victory.
And we overcome not because we develop some extraordinary spiritual self-discipline, but because of what Christ accomplished on the cross and through the resurrection. The victory is not something we manufacture. It is something we live from.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Colossians 1:27
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Galatians 2:20
“By His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
“O death, where is your sting?”
1 Corinthians 15:55
We do not refuse to fish because we suddenly become strong enough to conquer our humanness. We refuse to fish because Christ lives in us. Because the Spirit of God dwells within us. Because the Word reminds us of who we truly are today — not when we get our act together, not when we feel more spiritual, but because we believe what Jesus finished.
So whatever you might be carrying right now — the pressure, the strain, the relationship, the financial stress, the regret, the unknown — picture yourself physically throwing it into that pond. See it leave your hands. Watch it hit the water. And then turn your head slightly to the right.
There is a sign.
No fishing.
You do not get to go back in after it. Not because you are strong, but because He is. Not because you are disciplined, but because He is victorious. And the One who is seated at the right hand of the Father lives in you.
This week, cast it. And when the temptation comes to retrieve it, remember the sign.