# Why I can’t let go of some things

December 8, 2025

First Peter, Chapter 5, if you would, please. First Peter chapter number 5. We’re actually going back to the passage where we were last Sunday. If you weren’t here, I would advise you go on YouTube and listen to last week’s message. I was planning on being done with that. It is actually the first Sunday of the month. This year, I focused on grace on the first Sunday of the month, but I just could not get past. God wants us to deal a little bit more in depth with this truth.

A lot of you have been so very, very kind, and even texts throughout the week saying the message had helped and whatnot. But I think some struggle with practicing the truth last week. So I want to go back and cover it a little bit more and get a little bit more in depth than parts of it, all right? You’ll know the verse. We’ll read it here just a second. Many of you know it already: “Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.” You got the passage in First Peter, amen? Good deal, good deal.

Let me just kind of rehash a little bit last week. And I still hear those pages turning. Beautiful sound to a preacher as long as it don’t last too long, amen, you know? And First Peter five. Remember, we talked about that word casting. Actually, if you use Strong’s concordance and his definition of the Greek and Hebrew words means to throw upon, according to him. Remember, we have the water bottle—let’s see, I’ve got a water bottle here—it’s got the same water bottle. I never could get it to stick upright, you know? And casting, you got to let go of it. Casting all your casting, according to Strong’s, is this right here: man, you just—you just cast it on the Lord. In order to do that, you got to let go of it.

Then remember, we talked last week about casting all your care. You remember we had Ethan—Ethan shaking his head. He said, “Oh, man, that was a nightmare last Sunday,” you know. We had Ethan over here. We kept giving him songbooks. He was all macho man, carrying them all at one time. And then Macy over here—Macy, as soon as we give it to him, he’d put it here—that represents the Lord, casting all your care. And Ethan was just holding them all, you know. We use that as it.

And the last part of it, “for he careth for you.” And praise the Lord, we have a God that cares. I don’t say that lightly. I think Brother Ted was mentioning the Muslim religion; he’d witnessed to a man that used to be Muslim. He’s already saved now. And he said, “Tell me the difference.” And he said, “The difference is forgiveness. They never have forgiveness. We have forgiveness through Christ.” Praise the Lord, we have a loving God, “for he careth for you.”

But I want to talk a little bit this morning on this thing: Why I can’t let go of some things. Why I can’t let go of some things. Some things are just not as easy to cast on him. And I want to cover that. In fact, it just started last Sunday morning, but I think we’re going to cover it even more tonight on this subject, but this morning and tonight on this subject, why I can’t cast some things—just a little bit this morning. We’re in 1 Peter chapter 5. By the way, the theme of Peter is suffering. And that’s the theme of it. So just with that fault, kind of adds a little bit of light to it.

Would you please stand if you’re able to show the word of God respect? It’s worthy of it. 1 Peter chapter number five. We’ll start in verse number six. Are you there this morning? Amen? Good, good. Here we go. Verse number six: He says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” Friend, that’s the formula. Don’t follow the world’s exalting yourself as he abases. Follow God. Let just humble and let God exalt you. That’s God’s form.

Verse number seven: “Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.” Be sober. Be serious about the Christian life is what he’s saying. Be sober, be vigilant. Realize you’re in a warfare. You’ve got to be ready to fight. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion. He’s trying to intimidate you, by the way. All about intimidation. Walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. He’s waiting for just the right time and the right angle. And he’s walking about seeking, “When’s the right time, the right angle for me?”

Verse number nine, verse number nine: “Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” “Am I the only one going through this?” No, there’s other people going through suffering also. Basically what he’s saying there. But go back, if you would, please, to verse number seven. Let’s read that verse out loud. We’re going to focus again on that verse. Here we go. Let’s read out loud together. Here we go. “Casting all…”

Would you pray with me that God would speak to us? Maybe some things in your life that you just—I just can’t really cast it. And would you pray that God would help you and help us, enable us, give us some wisdom on casting all, even those that just seem like that won’t cast? Would you pray for that? Father, Lord, I do beg that you give me wisdom to say the words. And then, Lord, I—I can say all the right words, but if it’s not empowered by you, Lord, it won’t go in the heart, and it won’t accomplish what it needs to be accomplished. You said, over there, Lord, “Not by power, not by my [might], but by your Spirit.” Father, I preach you; it’s in your Spirit applying, making this thing real to these people. Give us wisdom. Shine light in a dark place in people’s lives where they can better cast their care upon you. And Father, we’ll thank you for what you do, Lord. We’re asking for this, Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

How many of you are like this? I feel like this. I feel like sometimes this is going to represent our cares, all right? How many had car trouble this week? Anybody have car trouble this week? We’ve got a couple. All right, good. That can be, you know, relationships. How many had somebody talk about you on social network this week? Anybody? We got that. All right, good, good, good. That’s pretty common. Oh, how many leftover drama from Thanksgiving? Anybody like that? You know? We’ve got hands going up here. All these things. Whatever your care is, casting all your… How many of you—this is the way I feel. I feel like I cast the care on the Lord. And then, you know what? The devil—any of these young men here want to be the devil for just a minute? Why’d you raise your hand so quick, Asher? Somebody really wants to be the devil. Come on now, man. All right, Asher, would you—would you—he’s going to be the devil. Would you just—would you just pick that up, just hand it to me, Asher? That’s what happens to me. I just cast it, and the devil seems like, Asher, if you helped me out a couple times—Asher’s like, “Man, you volunteered.” Every time I cast, the devil just—just he keeps bringing it back. Anybody out there felt like that? Man, it’s just like, you know, I’m trying. The preacher preached it, and I’m trying to cast, and I keep casting it. Every time I do, you heard. Thanks a lot, man. I appreciate that.

You heard about the little lady? She never had anything bad to say about anybody in the church. This sweetest lady. It frustrated some people. You know, she was just perfect. Never criticized, never negative. So finally someone said, “Well, what do you have to say about the devil?” And she said, “Well, he sure is a persistent fellow, isn’t he?” I’ve been like that.

I want to just try to—I want you to notice something. Help me out. That verse number seven right there. What’s the first word? Here we go. One, two, three. What’s the first word? Did you notice it’s not “cast”? Singular. It’s “casting.” Sometimes if there’s a major burden, or maybe something that you have carried for years and years and years and years, it’s going to be not a one-time deal. It’s going to be a hand-to-hand combat for months sometimes. You’re just going to have to continually. Sometimes it’s moment by moment. And as soon as you cast it, the devil’s bringing it back. And it’s just—it’s an ongoing, it’s a continual. I think that’s part of the reason why the next verse, “Be sober, be vigilant,” because your adversary, because that’s exactly what he does. He brings it back up.

Now, let me tell you by—and we’ll use Oscar. I used Ethan last week. Ethan said, “Don’t use me again.” And Asher did a good job. Thank you, Asher. But let’s get Oscar. Let’s get Oscar up here for a second. Good deal. I’m going to play the devil this time, all right? Oscar, if you want to come on up here. And we’ve had some people say that Oscar one day is going to be our Spanish pastor of our church. If the Lord guides that way, I’d be happy about it. Amen. We need a good Spanish church in our area, you know, I mean, we need that. But we’ll say when Oscar is standing right there, Oscar’s walking with the Lord, and he has freedom of the Lord. He’s casting his care upon the Lord. He’s just able to walk with the Lord. But the problems come, right? I don’t care who you are, whether you’re living for the Lord or not, you’re going to have problems, you know. And problems have their way of wrapping themselves around you. Now, I’m not going—let me pull you a little bit. Okay, Oscar, you’re young. I’m old. I don’t want to be sore tomorrow, all right? Now, you know. But problems, they just have a way of pulling you away from walking with God. And help me act like you’re trying to go back over there, Oscar. Don’t just act like it, all right? And your problems. And so Oscar, Oscar says, “Well, that bird—casting all your care.” And so Oscar, he gets that, and he casts all his care on the Lord. Throw it down there, if you would, please. And with that, he gets back close to the Lord. But I’m playing the devil here, all right? And this is what the devil does. He brings it up, and he’s so cunning. He’s so sly. He will just kind of, you know, he’ll sometimes—he’ll just wrap it around your mind, put it in front of you. He’ll dangle it there. Sometimes he’ll just—he’ll just, sorry Oscar—he’ll, Oscar, and he’ll just put it right in front of your face, and he’ll just run it by you while you’re sleeping. You’ll wake up thinking about it. By the way, he can put bolts in your mind, the devil can. Man, he’ll do everything he can.

And here’s the key: the devil is trying to get Oscar to pick the rope up. He’s trying everything he can because he knows if he picks the rope up, he can pull. And it’s a continual battle. He’s just working at him. And this is what the devil will do. He’ll just put it out there. He’ll kind of—he’ll do this. He’ll dangle it, right? See, the temptation, man, you’re just so tempted. That’s what the devil wants. Can you hold your hands out like that right there? This is what the devil will do. Let me see if I can get this thing right here. Hopefully, I won’t give him rope burn. The devil will do this right here, and he’ll just slowly, slowly. He’s just trying everything he can to put all your problems in your hands. And he’s working at it. And if he can just get Oscar to clamp down on it—thank you—he can pull. That’s what the devil’s all about. And it is going to be, if you’re used to carrying all your cares, it’s going to be hand-to-hand, moment by moment, just to battle that you’re going to have to continually pass. Thank you, Oscar. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Look, if you will, over in Philippians chapter four. By the way, the devil will get you to the point while you’re turning over there. Let me just kind of—he’ll get you to the point where you’re so defeated you think there’s no way you can cast that care on the Lord. And that’s what the devil wants. He’s getting your faith in that matter. What you found that, Philippians 4? Let me just remember—help me ask. Remember who did Jesus tell? He told that man, “Hey, Satan desires to sift you as wheat.” Who did Jesus—who was that? Peter, right? And Jesus said, “But Peter, I’ve prayed for you.” What—what did Jesus pray for Peter? That is what? That his faith failed not. So Jesus knew how to pray, and he knew that the devil was trying to get his faith, and the devil tries to get your faith that you can’t cast. Because if he gets you there, he’s got you. You’ll never fully—it’s a matter of faith, the trial of your faith. See?

But look over here. Here’s this thing about this just continual battle of you casting things on the Lord. Look in verse number seven, if you would please. Philippians 4, verse number 7. This is what God will do for you, verse number 7. Verse number 7: He says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts.” Now, can I just say this about verse number 7? Sometimes we think the peace of God is just like, bah, everything’s wonderful. It’s like just—globe—I’m great. I don’t know that that’s the promise here. Now, Isaiah 26 talks about perfect peace, but it doesn’t say that. Here he says, “The peace of God passeth all understanding.” What does it say? “Shall keep your hearts.” It protects it. It keeps it from getting cold, bitter, mean. It keeps your emotions intact. Shall keep your hearts and then what’s a—keep your hearts and your what? Your—keep your mind. Keep you going crazy. It’ll keep you—it’ll protect you. Shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I think we’ll get that a lot tonight, but through Christ Jesus. Now, that’s what he’ll do, verse number seven. It’ll keep your heart and your mind at peace. It’s amazing the peace of God. People can’t understand how you can keep your sanity and you can stay warm-hearted when you’ve been through all that. How does that happen? Well, it happens because what you’re doing in verse number six. You do verse number six, God does verse number seven.

But watch what he says in verse number six, verse number six. He says, “Be careful for nothing.” Well, how do you do that? If you will, that’s equivalent to casting all your care upon him. Be careful for nothing. What does it say? “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer.” So that’s the devil keeps bringing it up, and you keep praying, “Lord, I’m giving that back to you.” By prayer and supplication. You’re walking, you’re supplicating, you’re spending time, you’re getting to know his will, you’re yielding to his will. My prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And that’s—and notice that—bringing it together, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

So here’s the thing: when you keep casting it, and the devil goes down here, and he gets it, and he’s bringing it back up, and about the time he brings it back up to you, and you start praying—well, you know, the devil, he can’t stand—he can’t stand Bible. That’s the two-edged sword. He can’t stand soul winning, and he can’t stand—and he can’t stand prayer. A lot of things he can’t stand, but he don’t like prayer. He battles prayer. So after time and again, and every time he’s bringing it back to you, you start praying. Maybe you pray for it. I have someone that I have a little tough time with, and I’ve been working at this. When my mind, I lose a little peace because I’m bothered by that situation, that person. And I’ve been working at it. The devil brings it up. I’ll start praying for that individual. “Lord, help them. They got some things going on, and Lord, help them.” And here’s the thing: the devil hates praying. So of him bringing that thing to you makes you pray every time. After a while, the devil’s going to say, “Hey, man, I’m tired of bringing that to them because every time that I do, they pray.” And that’s part of this saying, “cast.” It’s over and over, moment by moment. It’s not necessarily boom, one-time deal, and I cast it up. It can start like that, and that’s part of it, but it’s a moment-by-moment battle. You bring it—he brings it back up, or excuse me, the devil brings it back up, and you’re going back to the Lord praying, “Lord, I’m giving it back to you.” After a while, the devil says, “That’s a thinking guy. He keeps praying every time I bring it to him.” And he is this loyal fox.

Let’s look at a different angle of this. I just kind of wanted to get that, and that’s so true. It’s casting; it’s not a one-time deal. It’s a continual deal. But I want to talk to you for a minute, for just a bit. Okay, longer than a minute, all right. Brother James turned 17 on Thursday. We’re going to have a birthday party for him after church, so we don’t want to be too long here because he’s got birthday cake waiting for him there. Well, let me talk to you about this thing. Let me get—I only had one good rope, so you have to wait for just a second while I get it ready, all right? Would y’all pause and watch a three-finger guy try to tie something? That’s not always easy. And let’s see here.

Here is sometimes talking about casting, casting all your care about him. Sometimes we said, all right, that thing—something happened in your life, and you say, “I’m going to cast that to the Lord,” but it won’t cast. And you know what in the world? I’m trying my best. I’m trying. The preacher preached. He yelled at me about casting. I keep trying to cast it, and it just won’t cast. Well, sometimes there’s a weight tied to it. You say, “What do you mean by that?” Well, often in our day and time, we’ll call it triggers. Anyone ever heard about this thing of triggers? Can I just say triggers are real?

Let me give you a couple of illustrations very briefly here. We have a good man. He’s not here this morning. He’s not good, but he was in Vietnam. And praise the Lord for anyone that’s been in the military. Thank you for your service. Thank you for those that have served in battle scenes, whether there’s support troops. Praise the Lord for those. You’ve got to have those; they are necessary. But sometimes those that have been truly in combat—I’m talking about this—they’ve seen a lot. And this man was in Vietnam, and he wasn’t just support personnel. He was out there and seen and heard and went through a lot. And he loves America. He will talk about America, and he can tear up talking about America. But on the 4th of July, he can’t be around fireworks. If he starts hearing these things go off and fireworks, man, it just—it just—it does something to him. He’s like, “I cannot take it.” And wisely so. He may come on that Sunday, but when we have fireworks that Sunday night, a lot of times around the 4th of July, he says, “Pastor, I can’t go to that because it takes me back.” So there’s commonality.

Now, if you have major trauma in your life, let me put it maybe more on a level that may apply to a lot of us or more of us, just trying to different scenarios. They don’t come here anymore. I wouldn’t use the illustration, but we had a younger couple coming down to church, and the wife was just extremely jealous. Now, I think somewhat of jealousy is healthy, but it was just like extremely jealous, and I was talking with the husband. And kind of after the years, you kind of know what happened. And I don’t know how it all unraveled. But sure enough, his wife’s dad had cheated on her mom. And sure enough, he could just kind of see it. Just all made sense. And I said, “Oh, yeah, you can see that for sure.” And so if the husband, if he just talked to a lady just a little bit longer than he should or—a lot of times, and that ain’t no longer than he should—he just talked to a lady. Didn’t mean anything about it, and nobody would think anything about it in the world. But his wife, she would just be, “Whoa!” You talk about mad. You know what happens with ladies? Or fingernails come out at switchblades? And they don’t want to give anybody else. They’re going to go after the husband, you know. That’s how I lost my fingers. No.

Take a man that as a boy, he was just picked on mercilessly by maybe his dad or his mom or both. And a lot of times they get kind of used to it, so at school they get it because it just kind of fit into that realm because it’s amazing how all that works. Who can read? Who can understand body language? It’s amazing. You put a thousand people in a room, and two people that are wounded, kind of on the same level, they find each other so much. Nobody knows how it happens. Just amazing how it works. But this boy was just picked on, called “sissy” and all the rest of this. Mama’s boy, everything else you can imagine. And then he grows up and he gets married, and his wife—just she didn’t mean anything by it, but maybe jokingly or somehow she shows him some disrespect a little bit—well, man, that triggers him back. It just throws him for a loop. He is inferiorated, and his wife is like, “What in the world is going on with you? You’re a crazy man!”

And these are triggers. If you have much any major trauma in your life, you will have triggers. Can I just say this? It is not a sin to be triggered. It’s human for someone that’s been through trauma. You’re going to be triggered. But you are responsible for how you handle your trigger. All right? You can’t just, “Well, I was triggered, that’s why I went off on you.” No, you’re responsible for what you said. You’re responsible for what you did.

Now, let’s talk about trauma for just a bit. All right, y’all out there, this is not the message. I wanted to preach on grace today. Amen. That’s our theme this year: “By Grace,” you know. And Jesus brought grace. That’s what I wanted to preach on. You know, it’s Christmas time. Amen. But we’re going to try to follow up what the Lord wants because he knows better than I. So let’s talk about trauma for just a bit here. How—how—let’s talk about the severity of trauma. Let me give a couple of things about it. We won’t cover it all. Rebecca Cook’s here, by the way. She deals with this stuff all the time. She’s a therapist, you know. But let me give a couple of things, indicators of how severe trauma is. Sometimes it’s just a matter of the intensity of the trauma. We used to have a man, a good man, that was in our church, a good man, and I would never say that if he was here, and I would never tell him about who it is, but he accidentally shot and killed one of his best friends. Accidentally. That’s just a boom—in a split second, boy, you’d call that intense. And sometimes the intensity of the situation can just burn a rut into your mind, your heart so deep, just because it’s so intense.

Now, here’s a very important thing about trauma: is how old you were when the trauma happened. Typically, the younger you are, the more effect on your life that trauma has. We used to have a mimosa tree in our front yard. And I know what a mimosa tree is. And my wife wanted—she just dreamed of this mimosa tree that was going to be tall and then spread out and create good shade. But that mimosa tree was growing up, sprouted out from the very beginning. And I waited too long. And it was going up, getting a little thicker, and so I had to take straps around it and ratchet those straps. And I’d do a little bit; a week or two later, I’d do more. And finally, I got that thing where it was close together and left those ratchet straps on there, and it grew up tall and straight in this. But if I’d have started at the beginning, just a little piece of, you know, thread or something could have… So when you’re young and trauma happens to you, typically it bends and turns you much greater. And the age of trauma—we’ll talk a little bit more about that in a minute here—but the age is very important. Then the length of trauma is very, very important. If it’s just a one-time deal, boom, that’s bad. But sometimes if it’s ongoing—maybe that trauma, look, if someone was messed with in a sinful way one time, that’s horrible, but if it lasted for years, that could be much worse. You understand? The length of it matters too. Y’all with me here? We’re going to get back to casting, all right? We’re going to get back to casting here pretty soon.

But this trauma—then let me say this: Who the trauma comes from matters. Typically, those—if the trauma’s coming from those the closest to you, especially as a child, your parents—it hurts worse. Then let me say this, and we’re going to move on here a little bit, but then… Then, y’all still out there? Y’all still out there? Then how the trauma was dealt with is very, very important. That can almost be as bad or worse than the trauma if not handled right.

And can I just say this along that line: Abuse, whatever it may be—physical, emotional, sexual abuse—abuse must be dealt with. Amen. Now, let me say this, especially sexual abuse, we’re told by just a split second here, it must be dealt with lawfully. Amen. Romans 13 is in the Bible, friend. God created governments and allowed the government to make some laws. In Europe, you’re a citizen. Well, hopefully you’re working on becoming a citizen. We don’t want any ICE agents in here coming in here. I’m joking to me a little bit. But under the Bible, God’s commands, I am to abide by the laws of the Lamb, and I am to turn in sexual abuse with a minor. Amen. It’s very important that it’s dealt with. It’s part of the trauma, the after effect of it.

Now, let me just talk—okay, so we got trauma a little bit in there, all right? Now let’s talk about triggers for just a little bit more. Triggers take you back. It takes you back emotionally. All right? We talked—oh, let’s see. I think I wrote down an illustration here. Let me see what I was going to say here. Oh, okay. So the guy, the guy, he was picked on mercilessly by his dad, his mom, whatever, you know, or maybe the kids at school, whatever, however it is—uncles, aunts, whoever, you know. And so the wife, maybe she was a little bit disrespectful. Maybe she shouldn’t have did that. It was unwise, we’ll put it that way. Maybe it was an offense of one that she should not have disrespected her husband. By the way, see that she reverence him. Ephesians 5 talks about that. And men are very geared on—they need respect. And maybe she should not have did that. It was the number one offense. But he responds with his emotions like a thousand—you know, 500 million. You know, it’s like he’s off the charts because that triggered him back to when he was a little 10-year-old boy. And people kept picking on him. And a 10-year-old boy doesn’t know what to do. He can’t handle it. Inside, he’s raging. If it’s his parents, he for sure can’t stop his parents. And so that trigger takes him back emotionally. That’s why he’s just so mad at his wife. He’s just like—and the wife is like, “What in the world got into him?” because it took him back emotionally to when he was a 10-year-old boy, and all that emotion by that. That’s why when when someone—they have a death in their family, and maybe a year later they have a death in their family, so you’re like, “Why? That was just your uncle or your aunt.” Well, why are you crying? “Because my spouse just died a year ago.” You understand? Or maybe your mom or your dad or someone close to you died when you were 16 or 12 or 8 years old, it takes you back often, and you have to be aware of that. It triggers you back. It triggers you back emotionally. It takes you back.

Let me see where we’re at on this thing here. It often takes you back to the age of your trauma. A lot of times they’ll say this. They’ll say if you got wounded as a 10-year-old girl in a certain area, in that area, that 10-year-old girl stopped being developed. Maybe the jealousy area, or whatever may be. And she hasn’t grown to maturity in that area. And so when she—someone does—her husband didn’t mean anything by it, but he talked to Sister So-and-so just a little bit too long. They didn’t mean anything back. But it takes that lady back, and she acts like a 10-year-old girl because it took her back to that age level, and she hasn’t been developed in that area. And she’s got trauma over that trauma. We’ll take you back to that age in your life when that happened.

Let’s keep going a little bit here. Number three, and this is a sad thing. Look over—well, let’s do this. Look over in Ephesians chapter number four. Ephesians chapter number four. And once you find that, I want to talk to you for a bit, and then we’ll read a verse there. Ephesians 4. I understand this is not the most “amen” type message in the world, but if it’s what God has for us, we’re going to take it. Amen. Praise the Lord for it. Amen.

Look at those in Ephesians chapter four. And this point that we’re delivering now: Trauma will often take you back to coping mechanisms. All right? You understand what I mean by that? Coping mechanisms? Whenever that trauma happened, you—something often—you went to that, and it helped you cope with the situation. Okay? Right? And you just grew up like that often. Look over in Ephesians chapter 4. We were talking about some major coping mechanisms that way typically the trend happens and arrives. Ephesians 4. Look at verse number 26, would you please? Ephesians 4. If you’re there, would you say amen? Ephesians 4, verse number 26: He says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your…” Your what? Your wrath. Let me explain the difference of anger and wrath. Anger is when someone takes you off, you just react, you let them have it. You give them a piece of your mind. Somebody—come on, that’s enjoyable every once in a while. But I don’t have much mind to give, you know. It’s that initial boom. That’s anger. Be angry. By the way, Jesus—Jesus was angry one time. He did not sin. It’s not necessarily wrong to be angry. That’s why it says, “Be angry and sin not.”

But then he said, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” What’s the difference of anger and wrath? Wrath is that something happened that ticked you off, and it just goes inside. You take it internally and just kind of smolders. You don’t want to deal with it at the moment. That’s why it says, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Don’t hang on to that and let it fester over the years or days or months.

Now, how many have ever heard this term in our day and time we use this term, “fight or flight”? Anybody ever heard that fight or flight syndrome? And when trauma happens, it’s amazing. You can read about it better than I can tell you. Your eyesight narrows, your pupils change, your blood pressure—everything changes—and you get in fight or flight. Now, some, they’re prone to be angry. That’s the fighters. And when they get triggered, their coping mechanism is they’re going to fight. They’re going to attack. They’re going to start accusing their spouse. They’re going to become smart alecks. Nobody likes a smart aleck friend. And they’re just going to attack, and they’re ready to fight. And that should be angry. They’re tending to fight. And said, “No.” That little boy that, you know, was picked on mercilessly, and somebody just says something they don’t mean—boom! And man, he’s ready to fight.

And so then there’s the fight or flight. The flight: “Be angry, and let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Those, they get triggered, they’re going to go away from everybody. They’re just going to shut down. They’re the avoidant. They’re the avoidant. And the spouse is going to say, “Well, I want you to open up to me. Why won’t you talk to me?” They’re going to avoid everybody, everything. They’re just going to close everything. They may put on a good show out in front of everybody, but the people that are close to them know, man, they’re boom, everything just closed down. And let not the sun go down upon your wrath. By the devil loves to get you in a corner somewhere, just you by yourself. That’s what Satan likes. And people are prone to two different things: fight or flight, anger or wrath. And this wrath, you just close yourself off. They just check out. Every season, one, you say, they’re checked out of that marriage or checked out of parenting. They’re just checked out. Often they’ve been triggered, and they’re the more avoidant, the flight, and they’re just checked out. They say, “If I do get in there and fight, it’s going to be bad, and so I’d rather just—boom.” But they’re triggered in. We go to these coping mechanisms, the way we’ve handled problems throughout life.

Can I say this about coping mechanisms? And this is so very, very true: Often our coping mechanisms become very sinful habits in our life. Where you get eating disorders, and you binge and then you throw it all up—very bad for your health. Or you just binge for days and days, or you won’t eat anything. Where a lot of men are stuck in pornography, and they don’t even realize it. They—they—they get triggered, and you know, a day or two later, they’re so tempted, and they get stuck in this rut of pornography. There’s so many drinking. Some people say, “Well, I just want to do my drugs and my drinking because I’m just want to get away from the world.” And it’s their coping mechanisms. And when you get triggered, you’re prone to your coping mechanisms, good, bad, ugly—that’s just where you’re at. You lie about anything and everything, whatever it may be. You have your coping mechanism. You live in a fantasy world. And we all have our tendency for coping mechanisms.

Now, let me say this, and we’ve got to hurry along. Someone stop that clock back there. We’ll be all right now. I’m not going to cover that. We can cover what we want to tonight. I’m working at stopping when the Lord wants us to stop. Let me just say this, and there’s so much more to it: But triggers—it’s very important that you identify. It’s a little humbling to admit you’re triggered, but you need to identify it, find out what it takes you back to, and deal with that root thing. You see, because you’re trying to cast this thing, and you’re like, “I’ve been trying, Pastor.” And the problem is you’ve got to wait, and you’re not going to be able to fully cast like God wants you to until you deal with the weight. And you’ve got to deal with it. Buried feelings don’t die. Deal with those. Now, there’s a lot to that dealing with it.

One illustration—by the way, what you’re trying to do, what you’re trying to do, if this three-finger guy can do it, you’re trying to untie that past trauma to the present day, and you’re trying to deal with it. Now, there’s a whole lot to dealing with it, but let me just—one illustration. You’ve heard me tell this illustration, but it just makes it so real to me, hopefully to you too. But most of you know I lost my fingers in 1992 in an accident. It was a machine accident. I was reaching in, pulling some metal out. I actually saw the blade come down, cut my finger off and my thumb off. The problem is I have a hard time, but I learned I can still pick my nose with my pinky, amen. But I literally saw it. You said, “What did you do?” Well, I took my hand and I covered it up, and I held it up, trying to stop the bleeding. And I didn’t want to take my hand off because I knew—I already saw what was there. You could just look in there and see the bone and everything else. And I was all right. I was all right. I was single in Bible College, so I got all the attention of the girls for a while. So I was all right. Bible College was appropriate, you know. But at nighttime, I couldn’t sleep. And at nighttime, I would try to sleep in that—I kept seeing it. Your brain is the craziest thing in the world. I was trying to sleep. I was all right in the daytime, and it was—but I could not sleep. And I would see that blade coming down, cutting my fingers. I’d just see that repeatedly in my mind. And the craziest thing, my mind would put a big old huge metal block in there as that blade was coming down on it. It would just—my mind would put it in there, and it would stop that blade from coming all the way down. That’s where my mind just kept looping.

Finally, I think just the Lord told me to do this. I don’t know. I always heard you get knocked off a horse, you got to get back on the horse. I called my boss. I wasn’t able to work at the time, maybe a month or two after that accident, I’m not sure. But I said, “Hey, well, we called him ‘boss’ in that original idea right there, second shift. We got off at midnight. There was not a third shift.” I said, “Hey, boss, I want to come out to work sometime. And when all the guys are gone, you just stay a little bit later one night, and I want to come in. I want to use that machine again.” And he said, “All right, Paul.” And he’s a Christian, good guy. And I said, “Boss, hang on. I want everybody to go on.” And so a little bit after midnight, I went up to the shop, and everybody else was gone. Just the boss was there. And it was a mechanical shear, like a buffalo shear. Any of you men, you know what I’m talking about it? You know, now they got hydraulic presses. It was mechanical—the old boom, boom, boom, boom, you know. And I went back there in the back part of the shop where that machine was, and I turned it on. And this big, huge wheel starts turning and clanging. And you just—and boy, when that clanging started up, it just kind of—man, in my brain, you know, I started thinking back to that. And I started using it. And it was amazing as I used that machine that whole night when I lost my fingers came back. I’m talking about I could feel the same things they felt that night. This is always a crazy thing. The same smells that I smelled that night, I smelled them again. Everything was just like was happening all over again. But the good part, after that, I could sleep.

That was part of my journey of dealing with it. But I had to go through that to get the healing of sleeping. And some of us are trying to cast, cast, cast, but you’re never going to cast because you’ve got some trauma you’ve got to deal with. There’s a lot to deal with. God will take you on the journey of healing, though he will. He’s the only one that can fully heal you. But the purpose is not so you can go through the rest of your life as a victim. The purpose is so you can go through the rest of your life being able to cast and enjoy the rest of your life.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Or heads bowed, eyes closed. I’m going to ask you a couple questions here, just very briefly here. Maybe you hear this morning and you say, “Lord, just help me to keep casting.” It’s a continuous, not a one-time deal. By the way, sometimes the journey is just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep casting. Don’t give up. And God spoke to my heart. I’ve got to keep in this battle of casting. God spoke to my heart about that. That’s you this morning. You sleep behind that preacher. That’s me. God’s spoken to my heart. I need to keep casting on this. It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be—it’s going to be easy. Not going to be fun. Not going to be glamorous. But you just keep moment by moment casting. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down. Good, good, good.

Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “Lord, would you help me deal with the triggers I have? Lord, I want to untie the rope off the weight. Would you take me down that pathway of healing, that journey? Lord, would you help me take me down?” He’ll grab your hand and take it. “Lord, I want to go down the road of healing, the journey of dealing with my trauma. Lord, I want you to take me down that pathway, a journey of healing.” If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand up. “Preacher, I want God to take me down this pathway of healing and untying, dealing with that trauma.” God bless you. God bless you. Oh, yeah. God bless you. That’s so good. That’s so good. By the way, just about everyone has some trauma in their life. God bless you. Thank you so very much.

Maybe you hear, “Would you just do this?” I’m just going to ask two more questions and we’ll move on. But maybe you just need to—I’m surprised at some time. I don’t think we discern ourselves. And others around us are saying, “Boy, you handle that one crazy. What in the world’s going on with you?” You know, and you’re like, “I’m fine. I didn’t do anything wrong.” And we just don’t discern ourselves. Maybe would you just pray, “Lord, give me discernment about myself. Give me discernment. Help me to see myself as I really am.” Maybe would you be willing to do that? The Spirit of God is just pricking you. All right, I need to pray that. “Lord, just let me see myself. Give me a discernment about who and what I really am, how I react. And give me a discernment about that.” Would you pray that? “Preacher, I’m willing to pray that.” God, give me a discernment about myself, who and what I really am. You pray that, just let me hand in the preacher. I pray that. I believe God’s speaking in my heart. I pray that. God bless you. That’s good. That’s part of healing. Oh, yeah. It’s part of honesty. Growing. Growing. You know, me stuck there for 40 years. Growing. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.

One last question. You know, Jesus went through major trauma. He was beaten beyond recognition. He was abused all night long, I think, every form of abuse. He was mocked and lied about. Hundreds, maybe thousands, cheered, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!” You talk about trauma. Your own country, you know, people you love. Oh, he understands. And he went through that to give you salvation. Maybe you’re out there, you say, “You know, I’ve never been saved.” He was glad to go through that to pay for your sin debt.

Boy, you’ve never been saved. He loves you. He gladly went through that major, major trauma to purchase your salvation. You’ve never received it today. It’d be a great day to get saved. If you’re there this morning, you’re a preacher, “I’m not saved. I need to get saved.” I’m not saying you’re saying you’re going to do it today, but you just admit it: “I need to get saved.” That’s you with heads bowed and eyes closed. Would you just lift your hand? “Preacher, I need to get saved. I truly need to accept what Jesus went through is my way to heaven.” Anybody like that? “I need to get saved so I’m going to heaven.” Anybody like that? Anybody like that? I don’t see any hands. Hey, let’s just spend some time with the Lord, however he guides you. We’re going to have an invitation. You spend some time with him.

Would you do that? Would you please stand? Would you please stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer. I won’t be long. And then when I say amen, if God’s led you, you’ll be able to come down an old-fashioned altar if he’s leading you there. But you spend some time, “Lord, have me to discern myself. Have me to bring healing. Have me to untie the rope so I can truly cast that.” You spend time with him talking with him about those things. He’s the healer that can heal you in these things. Father, thank you for your goodness. Bless our people. Father, again, would you send your Spirit applying these words, these truths, deep in the hearts of those we all need it. And all of us in some form or some fashion, we’ll thank you, Lord, for what you do. It’s in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

As our instruments play, would you come just spend some time? As he guides you, you’ll be obedient. However he’s leading you, you follow what he wants. He’s Jehovah Rapha. He can bring healing. You’re still going to have some trauma. You’re still going to have some after effects. But oh, my goodness, he can bring you on the journey of healing. You used to affect your world, turn your world upside down, and everybody else around you, the world upside down. Now you get past it. Ask him, “Lord, would you take my hand? Would you take me on the journey?” He will. He’s been waiting for you to ask. He can bring just the right person along just to the right moment for that stage of healing on the journey. Don’t get used to just living life where you can’t cast. You’ve got a thousand-pound weight on your back. You can’t. You just—you just—all you can do is keep your head above water. He can read it.

Amen, amen. You said that was not a Christmas message. Well, come a couple weeks from now, we’ll have a Christmas message. That just means you’ve got to come back. That’s all that means now, you know. So we’re glad to have you this morning and be back tonight. We’ll talk more about that. I’m trying to get another subject along this line, but we’ve got to finish what we started this morning. We’ll try to get the new stuff tonight, too. But glad to have you every person here tonight. God’s looking down, he smiles, and you’re in his house on a Sunday morning. That’s awesome. James 17, we’re going to have a birthday party for him just to be—if you can hang around, you want to, in the fellowship hall. I know most of you have to slip out. If you want to stop by and say happy birthday, give him a $100,000 bill, he’ll take it, amen. That worked, that worked for sure. Praise the Lord for James, and that’s just great.

Original File: 2025-12-08 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Why I can’t let go of some things？＂ - Sunday AM 12⧸07⧸2025