How to Let Go of Your Hidden Hurts

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

Are you holding on to hidden hurts?  We’ve all had them. Hidden hurts have a way of growing within us when we hold on to them.  Before you know it, they begin to weigh you down. You may want to let them go, but just don’t know how.  Every time you try, the pain seems to creep back in until you feel the pain again.  Hidden hurts knock us off center.  They begin to distort our reality until we view everything and everyone through the scratched lenses of our own suffering. How can you find your center in Christ when you’ve experienced such pain?  Whether it was a misunderstanding, the betrayal of a friend, a divorce, or the death of a dream, hidden hurts create anxiety in our hearts.  

Peter offers us wise counsel for dealing with the hidden hurts of our hearts. In fact, with one single action, we can deal with all our hidden hurts - past, present, and future!  How?  Peter says, “You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him, for you are His personal concern.” (1 Peter 5:6, Phillips).

The tense of the verb “throw” in this passage or “cast” as used in other translations denotes an act done “once and for all”, throwing the whole weight of your anxieties on Christ!  Wow!  Talk about unloading a burden!  Wouldn’t you like to be free of the weight of your hidden hurts?  The good news is that, in Christ, you can!  You can release them now by throwing the whole weight of them on Christ!  He bore our burdens on Calvary!  At the cross, He died for all our hurts, habits, and hang-ups!  And, if that is not enough, the next phrase offers even better news!  When Peter tells us to throw the whole weight of (all our cares) upon Him, it means the whole of your care, not every anxiety as it arises. The Amplified version puts it like this, “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

Have you done that, or are you still holding on to your hurts? It’s time to let them go. If you take this verse literally, Peter is telling us that we can once and for all cast all of our cares - past, present, and future onto the Lord!  Don’t piecemeal them out and keep the ones you think you can handle yourself. Release them all to Him, knowing that He cares for you! You are His personal concern! He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully! Give Him all your anxieties, worries, and concerns. Give Him all your hidden hurts. Then every time a new one comes, just remember you have already turned them all over to God by faith! You don’t have to carry them anymore! You’ve given them to Christ.

Peter experienced this in his own life with Christ.  He witnessed firsthand how much Jesus cared for him when Jesus healed his mother-in-law, told him how to get a great catch of fish, helped him pay his taxes, invited him to walk on water, healed the man whose ear Peter had cut off, and even delivered him from prison! Perhaps the greatest experience was when He restored Peter after he had denied the Lord three times! Peter could personally testify that there was no problem too great for Jesus’ power to handle and no hurt too small for His concern. Why?  Peter says it’s simple – because Jesus cares! You are His personal concern!  In the language of the New Testament, this means “watchful care out of personal interest and affection.” 

So, what are you carrying right now?  What hidden hurt do you need to cast on the Lord? You can release the weight of it on His shoulders. Take a moment right now and give it to God, knowing that He cares for you. Then, thank Him for taking it.    

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