Good morning. Please consider with me this powerful statement from 1 Peter 5:6-7 which carries some amazing truths about our relationship with God:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
So much of our relationship with God begins with a proper attitude. The single word that best describes what our attitude MUST be as we come to our Father God is humility.
Anything but true humility will not serve us as we approach God Almighty, the Creator, the Lord of all. He is worthy of adoration and praise, and He is worthy of recognition. We must recognize who He is, that He is God and that we are mere created beings. In that humble recognition we understand what it means to call Him Lord.
Under God’s mighty hand we understand who we are and who He is. Full understanding and accepting of that reality should immediately cause a spirit of humility. Anything else just doesn’t make sense.
One promise of these verses is that when we do approach God almighty in the proper way, with a genuine spirit of humility, we know that when the time is right (His timing not ours) God will lift us up. God will exalt the faithful. God will recognize His own and grant us a place with Him in His glory, which is eternal.
But the promise of God to bring us blessing is not purely a matter of entering eternity when we pass from this physical life. No, God says that we are to put our worries, our concerns, our anxieties, on His shoulders. When we do so, He promises to carry them for us. Why? because he cares for you.
Please take a moment to pray about that truth: because he cares for you. Ask that God give you insight into what that means, in real terms, in your life right now.
We all have our own story. We have a past that includes moments we are proud of and moments that would fill us with shame. God commands that we give Him those shameful moments so that He can properly deal with them. He will forgive them, which means they are forgotten as though they have never existed. Why? because he cares for you.
There was a woman who met Jesus at a well outside of her Samaritan village. Her life had been a story of shame. The mud of her life’s story was public knowledge, which meant she had come to the well in the heat of the day to avoid the stares and whispers of her peers. Jesus welcomed her. In their conversation, Jesus made it clear that she was important to Him. Why? because he cares for you (her).
There was a man named Zacchaeus who was known for two things. First of all, he was physically short. Was he teased as a child? Probably. Did that contribute to the second thing, his choice of profession? Probably. You see, Zacchaeus chose to become a tax collector, which was the most despised profession imaginable. While his fellow Jews would have hated him, Jesus called out to him and announced that He wanted to have dinner at the despised man’s home. Why? because he cares for you (him).
Jesus was having dinner at the home of Simon, a stuffy and self-righteous Pharisee. A woman crashed the party. Weeping, she washed our Lord’s feet with her hair. Everyone knew that she was a woman with a very bad reputation. Her presence was a scandal in the making. But Jesus didn’t turn her away. In fact, He welcomed her. Why? because he cares for you (her).
Peter had denied his Lord not once but three times. He had boasted that he would forfeit his own life to serve and to save Jesus. But when it counted, he failed miserably. Did Jesus push him aside in ridicule and judgement? Of course not. Jesus forgave him, reinstated him, and loved him. Why? because he cares for you (him).
Give it all to Jesus today. All of your past, both praiseworthy and despicable. Give it all to Jesus. Through Jesus, we see the truth of our opportunity: casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Whatever your story, He couldn’t possibly love you any more than He does right now.
Vern