Hurling and Meddling

-


Scripture

1Pet. 5:6   Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.

Observation

The charge to the Christ-follower is to live a life of humility. Only in recognizing that we are humble servants of God will we be able to put our trust in him. When we think and/or believe that we have great power and capability to do things on our own we will fail.

Once we are able to live in humility before our holy God, then we are able to put our complete and total trust in him. It is in this condition that we recognize our need for God and this is when we learn to become dependent upon him. No matter the pressure nor responsibility in life we are to cast all our anxiety on him.

The idea of casting is really one of “hurling.” We are to throw, or hurl our anxiety on the Lord. The very here is the same one as those who cast their robes before the colt on which Christ rode. It is the very idea of throwing this anxiety with all our might on him. This is the advantage that comes from humbling ourselves before God.

We are then brought to understanding that he cares for us. This is not just a simple catchphrase of concern, but rather the word used here for care brings us to an understanding of “meddling.” In other words, his care brings with it action. His care results in God’s meddling in our lives — in a good way!

The humble Christ-follower will hurl their burdens and concerns onto God and God in his lovingkindness will meddle in our affairs, helping us with those burdens.

Application

We all have burdens in life. Some are self-inflicted, others are laid upon us by others, and some are hurled on us by the world. God has even called some to carry heavy burdens of troubled children, dysfunctional marriages, or leadership. The burdens are as varied as the individuals on the earth. And yet God doesn’t say to just cast some burdens on him — he challenges us to cast ALL our anxiety on him. Hurl everything in his direction.

I’m wondering what our prayer life would be like if we committed to hurling — and allowing God to meddle. I think it would be transformational. We may think that we are hurling our anxiety on him, but if we don’t allow him to meddle — to take care of things — then we will still be anxious. Hurling and meddling have to go together.

The command is simple, the act of faith is what comes next. Whatever may be making us anxious today, it’s time to hurl it to God. In humility, make space for him to meddle.

Prayer

Lord, thank you that you love us enough to allow us to hurl our anxiety to you — and please, co your meddling.  Amen.

Thank you to Nazarene Publishing House and Keri Mitchell for helping to create and publish Reflecting the Image. This is not a devotional book, but rather a collection of thoughts and stories which lead us in the direction of reflecting Christ. Click on the image to take you to the NPH bookstore.The book is also available in Kindle format on Amazon.com.


http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/nph/itempage.jsp?itemId=9780834135277

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more