Humble Dependence

-


Scripture
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.

Observation

The challenge for the follower of Jesus Christ is to learn to live a life that is humbly submitted to God. It is only the person who has humbled themselves before God who is able to become completely dependent upon God. The verb for cast is quite vivid — it actually means to “hurl.” With all the power that is within us we are to throw off all of the worries and struggles of life and place them on Jesus — because he loves and cares for us. The is the picture of humble dependence. 

Application

Many people struggle with anxiety, and it seems that as a society it continues to creep into our lives. Media has established unattainable expectations for humanity. Photoshopped pictures have led us to believe that people can look perfect and only remind us of our own inadequacies. The lives we portray on social media become a cover for the realities and struggles we may be facing. In the midst of it all God is reaching out to us, encouraging us to become dependent. 

Some of us may have determined that we ought to be anxious because we have created our own problems. We don’t have the right to trust in God to help us. There is no disclaimer to this passage of scripture. No matter what we have done in life, we are invited to humble ourselves before the Lord and live in a state of complete and total reliance upon him. 

We need to focus on the last part of this verse, “because he cares for you.” Even when we get ourselves in hot water, — God cares for us! God never gives up on us. God never says that we can only cast our anxiety on him when we get our act together. 

Our loving Savior invites us to gather up everything that is causing anxiety in life, roll it up into a big ball, and hurl it toward him. It’s time to get rid of the stress and learn to live in humble and complete dependence upon the Lord who loves and cares for us. 

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the reminder that you care about it all.  Amen.

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