2/4 Sermon - Humble Yourself Under God’s Mighy Hand
Humble Yourself Under God’s hand
1 Peter 5:6-11
Let me tell you about a certain country in this world. I want you to try and guess which one it is. The people are wealthy. They belong to the most powerful country in the world. There’s peace in their land; they can travel from one end of the nation to the other with no fear. But no one has time for God. Most people do their own thing. They laugh at God. Some persecute the Church. The Christians in this nation worry, stress, and they sometimes doubt God’s power and control. Which country am I talking about? America? No! Asia Minor in Rome in the 1st century. Do you see how similar our situation is to theirs? In his letter, Peter writes to comfort and encourage believers in Asia Minor, but his letter applies just as much to us.
Right off the bat, Peter addresses two topics that apply to all of us. “Humble yourself before God,” and “cast your anxiety on him.” Pride and humility. There is a connection there we might not realize.
We all have anxiety or worry, right? Our chests get tight, we can’t sleep, we sometimes have bad dreams. Our stomachs are upset when we think about something. During a dinner with friends or when we’re focused on our job or cooking or a hobby, we’re distracted. But again and again, our minds go back to our troubles, and we have anxiety.
What actually causes anxiety and worry? What Peter says here is exactly right! Pride. Worry and anxiety come from pride.
Seems weird at first, but think about it, here’s one example. Usually, we’re worried or anxious about our present situation or something in the future, something we’d like to change or alter, but can’t. Instead of being at peace with it and leaving it in God’s hands, we want to change the situation..
Here's another example: comparison consumes so much of our American lives. We compare our family, our house, our income, our hobbies to other people. What’s the result? Everyone in America is busy, busy trying to out-do others, to be prideful in our own business, and so we’re anxious and we worry.
We see some issues that we struggle with, but Peter doesn’t just stop there. He brings up our chief, #1 opponent: Satan. Last Sunday I talked about how dangerous Satan is and how we can be naïve about his power, so I won’t dive into that as much today. But look at the pictures Peter uses to describe him: Satan is a prowling lion.
Growing up, our family did quite a lot of traveling, especially out west in Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and we did quite a bit of hiking. My brother Luke and I always used to race ahead because we thought the others were slow. My mom always made us hike together, and we weren’t allowed to go too far ahead, because of mountain lions. She’d heard stories of how they prowled around and dragged off children or solo hikers. That’s just how cats work, right? From lions to house cats. They prowl, sneak, and hunt for easy prey.
That’s what Satan does with us. Like a mountain lion, he prowls, he hunts, he stalks to attack. One of his major tools is pride and anxiety. He looks for every opportunity to fill our hearts with pride, as if we have control over this world and can dictate what happens in our lives. Satan looks for every opportunity to fill our minds with anxiety when we get scared, frightened, or anxious when things our out of our control.
I don’t think I’m unique if I confess that pride and anxiety and worry are frequent sins for me. Are they for you too?
What is God’s answer to our pride and anxiety? Peter writes this, “Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand.” Humility. Humility is the answer. Peter gives us powerful reasons for HOW we can humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand. It’s so easy for me to say, “stop be anxious!” “Stop being so prideful.” As all of us know, it’s easy to say. Peter tells us how to bury our pride and anxiety.
How can I be humble under God’s mighty hand? Peter gives us perspective. “God will lift you up in due time he says.” And later he says that we suffer, “for just a little bit.” Peter puts our lives in perspective. Imagine a rope like this. This is eternity. Our lives, just 70-80 years long, are just the tiniest fraction of this rope. This is eternity.
Imagine a terrible start to your day. Stub your toe, hang your head, burn your toast. But them your day becomes amazing: win the lottery, meet your soul mate, get the promotion, win a new car. You wouldn’t even remember those terrible 5 minutes!
All that stuff we’re worried and anxious about? God gives us this promise: “God will lift you up.” Then, “The God of all grace has called you into eternal glory.” Our sin has been taken away. God has shown us his grace by sending his son. Eternal paradise is yours. What is a little piece of rope, 5 minutes of a day, 60-70 years when compared to eternal paradise? I’m not trying to downplay or dismiss your problems and yor situation. But God gives us hope beyond this life of pain and problems. We have life. Even the grave no longer has any hold over us. This hope of life, this comfort of forgiveness helps us fight against our pride and worry. We humble ourselves under God’s mighty and gracious hand.
That’s not all God says to you. He doesn’t just give you hope and forgiveness, he comforts you right now. How can I humble myself under God’s mighty hand? Look at other. V. 9, “because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” Peter doesn’t say this to dismiss our suffering. He doesn’t say, “They have it worse, so you can stop whining.” No! Peter says this to make this point: God helps and comforts others, so he’ll help and comfort you. Do you know a fellow believer who has suffered? With loss, anxiety, sadness, doubt? We all do. God helped get through their suffering. He’ll help you too.
How can I humble myself under God’s mighty hand? V. 10, “God will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” Here’s a picture for what God does with us. Have you ever planted a tree before? A sapling? What do you do? You tie ropes or bands around it so that it grows straight. But as the tree grows, you need to slowly release the bands, or else the tree won’t be strong enough to stand in the wind on it’s own. That’s kind of what God does with us. He supports us. He strengthens us. And he sends problems into our life. Why? We’ll never know in this world. Why did God allow our drain to block and cause 1000s of dollars? Why is God making me suffer right now? Why did God take away my loved one? We’ll never know. But we know this: God’s ultimate purpose is always to strengthen our faith, turn us back to him, and bring us to heaven.
How can I humble myself under God’s mighty hand? Finally, one of the most beautiful things Peter says is this: V. 7, “Because he cares for you.”
The mighty, all-power God, who takes away your sin and gives you life also says this: “I care about you. I know your favorite flavor of ice cream. I know the number of hairs on your head. I know the fears that grip your heart, I know anxiety that fills your mind, I know the worry that upsets your stomach. And I care.” God is with you, right now. Right next to you. And he won’t leave you. That’s the promise Jesus gave to you, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
How can we humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand? Here is something you can do, that I do: “Cast all your anxiety on him.” Sometimes, when I pray, and I don’t know what to say, I just start complaining. I just tell God everything that’s on my mind, I tell him my frustrations, my doubts, my fears, and I just end with, “that’s where I’m at, God. That’s all I can say. Help me.” And we’re sinful, day after day, we’ll fight our own pride and worry. So day after day, we cast our anxieties on God. I can’t overstress vital it is for us to take our worries and sins and anxieties, and just throw them at God. It doesn’t have to be polished or sound nice. We throw them at God. We cast our anxieties on him.
1 Peter 5:6-11, this reading in the Bible, is worth memorizing. It’s worth putting on the wall. This is God’s answer to pride and worry. Now, when you walk away from this worship service, your anxiety and pride won’t just magically disappear. But the promise and truth God gives in this reading is our most powerful weapon, our hope. No matter what happens in your life, God is more powerful, and he we will bring you home to heaven. Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand.
