because He cares for you
“Humble yourselves [to confess one’s spiritual littleness or unworthiness, to submit] therefore, under the mighty hand of God [applied to God’s might, activity, and power displayed in:
- creating the universe
- upholding and preserving by His presence in protecting/aiding
- punishing
- determining and controlling the destinies of men]
so that at the proper time He may exalt you [to exalt, to raise to dignity, honor, happiness]
casting ALL [individually, collectively] your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.”*
— — –-
This morning I walked slowly around 1 Peter 5:6-7, trying carefully not to trip over these words in haste because of familiarity. Words can become like old friends; we enjoy the need to leave things unasked because we feel that they know us and we know them. But sometimes, taking time to ask questions unearths the treasures we left buried. It reveals our desire to better understand, to better hear and embrace what’s being said. And asking questions of the Word keeps my soul awake.
In order to feel this great and tender care that God has described here, let’s linger here.
- How do we know God cares for us?
- How much of our anxiety should be give Him?
- When will we be exalted? Why? How?
When someone cares for us, we typically feel important; esteemed; valued; exalted. But our culture so creatively twists the truth about how to become valued or exalted into dirty little lies that demand our performance, our pride, and our position above others. But the Word clearly (and repetitively) tells us that exaltation results from humility — and humility comes from a correct opinion of God and yourself. We are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand that wove a universe into being, a hand that holds the world in place and protects what He has created, a hand that punishes evil done in darkness and light, a hand that maps and guides the paths we walk on in life.
When we hold our tiny, finite, and often dirty hands up to His mighty hand — how could humility not happen?
And in perfect time, He lifts our heads and we rise up. He knows your season, your deadlines, your exhaustion, your hours spent awake staring at the ceiling holding your breath. We see with cloudy eyes; He sees the moment relief will arrive, the moment that letter meets your mailbox, the moment the phone will ring good news, the moment the door opens at last, the moment your family knots are untied. Only He knows when the perfect time will come.
This is why we cast our cares like heavy stones onto Him. Only He is strong enough to carry them, because His hands are mighty.
And because He cares so deeply for you.
**definitions from blueletterbible.org