Read 1 Peter 5:5-7.

Introduction⤒🔗

What makes you anxious? Is it an unstable economy and an uncertain job situation? Is it concern for a missionary son and his family serving the Lord in the wilds of South America? Is it concern for an ailing mother and what will become of her?

In this life, we encounter many anxiety-producing situations and we need to know how to deal with them in a God-honoring way. The Apostle Peter instructs us to cast all of our cares and anxieties upon the LORD; this is God’s counsel to us and His command to us, because He cares for us as His children in Christ.

Cast Your Cares upon the Lord, as an Act of Submission to God←⤒🔗

When we read 1 Peter 5:6-7 carefully, we find a very amazing and unexpected truth: anxiety is directly related to pride. We are instructed, 'humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God;” and the way in which we do so is 'by casting all your anxiety upon him.”

How is anxiety related to pride? At first glance, the two appear to be the extreme opposites. When we hear the word “pride,” what picture comes to mind? Is it not the picture of a man who is confident that he is in control of the situation; so confident, that he may be boastful or arrogant? When we hear the word “anxiety,” what picture comes to mind? Is it not the picture of a trembling little fellow, biting his fingernails, totally overwhelmed by the situation, fully aware that it is out of his control?

Do you see how pride and anxiety are, indeed, related? They both have to do with a sense of control. Pride stems from the delusion of being in control; the kind of attitude the Apostle James rebukes:

Now listen, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. ¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. ¹⁶As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Jas. 4:13-16

Anxiety is the desperation that accompanies the realization that you are not in control; the kind of desperation Peter experienced when he followed Jesus out onto the lake in the midst of the raging storm:

Lord, if it is you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water. ²⁹Come, he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me! Matt. 14:28-30

The next time you experience anxiety, look beyond your sense of apprehension and examine the cause. Is your anxiety due to your inability to solve a problem? Is your anxiety due to your inability to handle a crisis? Is your anxiety due to the knowledge that you are about to face a threatening and unavoidable situation? Inevitably, you will find that anxiety can be traced back to the realization that you are not in control: not in control of the circumstances; not in control of your situation; or not in control of your environment; not in control of your life.

When you confront anxiety for what it really is, this is what you discover. You are resisting, rather than submitting, to what God has appointed for you; and you are doubting, rather than trusting, what God will do for you. Consider the teaching of our Lord as recorded in Matthew 6:24-34,

²⁴No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. ²⁵Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Which one of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his life? ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? ³²The pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt.6:24-34

Three times in this passage the Lord Jesus issues the commandment, “Do not be anxious” (vs. 25,31,34). We must bear in mind that when Jesus speaks these words they come to us not only as loving counsel from the Good Shepherd, but also as a commandment from the Lord of glory.

“But,” we are tempted to say, “it’s impossible for me to avoid being anxious. It’s impossible for me to stop being anxious!”

That is not true. Remember these two things: First, remember that the cause of anxiety is resisting, (rather than accepting), what God has appointed for us; and doubting, (rather than trusting), what God will do for us. To combat and overcome anxiety, we need to accept the sure testimony of the Psalmist when he writes: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; ²therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Psl. 46:1-2).

Second, remember that overcoming anxiety, like everything else in the Christian life, is a maturing, growing process that requires our reliance upon the Holy Spirit. One of God’s goals for us is that our lives become increasingly characterized by confident faith in Christ and be delivered from debilitating anxiety. Consider Joanie’s story. (The following was taken from an interview with author Joanie Yoder, which was recorded for the RBC television program, Day of Discovery).

My life was filled with anxiety and worry...I had nothing left of my own inner resources. I didn’t seem to have the strength, physically or emotionally, to go on.

I had become agoraphobic, which is a dread of open spaces, a fear of going out. For me, it was a fear of going into the supermarket. It was so intense that I would panic and go into a sweat.

So, sometimes I would interrupt my shopping, shove my cart into a corner, and run home. As soon as I was in the house, I would have this sudden relief of being safe and secure again.

My eating habits changed, my sleep was erratic, I was trembly and shaky, and I was generally anxious about life and all its responsibilities. I couldn’t face anything.

From my own experience, and also in observing other people who are in this painful situation of running out of their resources, one of the characteristics is a need to control: the need to control life, circumstances, people, and unwittingly, God; because we feel afraid of what might happen. We feel that if we can control things and make things go a certain way, we will be less afraid.

My problem was that I couldn’t feel in control of my self-protection: protection from the things that I was afraid of. So I began to build a cocoon around myself. That cocoon became as small as the word implies. I had a tiny space in which I felt safe and secure: the four walls of my house. In fact, I so cocooned my life that it contained a population of one: me.

During this time God had no scope in my life. I was terribly unhappy.

I had hit rock bottom. I had to come to the end of myself before I could discover the sufficiency of Christ and allow Him to change me. God began to rehabilitate me according to what Paul described in Philippians 1:6, “he who has begun a good work in you [which starts at conversion] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The process doesn’t take six easy lessons or six months, but continues “until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Early on in my progress toward wholeness, God showed me four disciplines, which still have a profound effect in my life: Read the Bible. Pray. This goes beyond the boundary of a little time of prayer. It goes out into the marketplace, out into our cars, out into our circumstances. Trust; trusting God for the things we cannot control. Releasing them, not into thin air but to God. Obey.

As I began to incorporate these disciplines into my daily living, I found that it cultivated an intimate relationship with Christ that developed confidence in Him. He began to prove His sufficiency to me at small levels. And as He continued to come through for me, I began to trust Him more and more.

I began to find less and less reason for worry. It became superfluous. I began to realize that whatever He led me to undertake, even if it were something that stretched me, He would come through for me.¹

We must cast our cares upon the Lord, as an act of submission unto God. The Psalmist assures us, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psl. 55:22).

Cast Your Cares upon the Lord, with Confidence in God←⤒🔗

Peter continues this teaching on the cure for anxiety by assuring us of the Lord’s compassion and care for us; he instructs us to cast all our care upon the Lord, “because he cares for you” (v. 7).

Do you question His concern for you; do you question His care for you? If so, all you need do is look to Calvary! Consider the following testimony:

A man in Dundee, Scotland, who had fallen and broken his back, was confined to his bed for forty years. He never had a day without pain, but God gave him the grace and strength to keep going. His cheery disposition and great love for the Lord inspired all who visited him.

One day, a friend asked, “Doesn’t the devil ever tempt you to doubt God?” “Oh yes, he tries; especially when I have to lie here and see my old schoolmates driving by, having a good time with their families. At times, it’s as if Satan whispers, ‘If the Lord is so good, why does He keep you here? Why did He allow you to break your back?’”

When the friend asked how he handled such attacks, the man replied, “I point him to Calvary and to the wounds of my Savior and say, ‘Doesn’t He love me!’ The devil can’t answer that, so he flees every time.”

Do you question the Lord’s concern for you, do you question His care for you? Remember the words of our Lord Jesus: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. ³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31). Take into consideration, too, the assurance given by the writer to the Hebrews: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ ⁶So we say with confidence, ‘The LORD is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5b-6). The answer is that man can do nothing more and nothing other than what God our heavenly Father permits him to do; and whatever that may be, it will be for our ultimate good and for His glory. Furthermore, our Lord Jesus has promised that He will be with us always, and the sure promise of Scripture is, “God is our Refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psl. 46:1).

Let us take comfort and assurance from the promise the LORD makes to His people in Isaiah 54:15­ 17,

Listen. They may assemble themselves together [against you], but [they will] not do so at my command. Whoever assembles against you will fall because of you. ¹⁶Listen, I am the one who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and by his work forges a weapon. I have also created the destroyer [with the mission] to destroy. ¹⁷No weapon forged against you will prevail. Furthermore, you will condemn every tongue that speaks against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD; and their righteousness is from me, declares the LORD.

Verse fifteen indicates that those who gather themselves together against the LORD’s people to do them harm shall not do so at His command. Consequently, any powers that set themselves against God’s people without His consent shall not prevail; ultimately, they shall fail: “Whoever assembles against you will fall because of you.”

They shall fail in their efforts against the LORD’s people because the LORD Himself is the Almighty, able to defend His people: “Listen, I am the one who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and by his work forges a weapon. I have also created the destroyer [with the mission] to destroy. ¹⁷No weapon forged against you will prevail” (vs. 16-17a). The blacksmith may be the one who creates the weapons of war, but it is the LORD who has created both the blacksmith and the destroyer who wields the weapon made by the smith. They are both under His almighty hand and can do nothing other than what He permits, and He will not permit the destruction of His people.

What is this prophetic picture portraying? The LORD’s people shall be preserved and finally delivered from all demonic tyranny and delivered into a state of perfect peace and rest. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q/Q #26, expresses this great biblical truth as follows:

How does Christ execute the office of a king?
Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us unto himself, in ruling and defending us and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

We will not be exempt from every trial and demonic assault waged by men or by the devil himself; but every trial we encounter is ordained by the LORD and is under His sovereign control, (the devil could not subject Job to trial without the LORD’s permission, and then only to the extent the LORD permitted, cf. Job 1:12; 2:6). The LORD will be present with us in the midst of our trial, the more severe the trial the more evident His divine presence, (the three young Hebrew men thrown into the fiery furnace found the LORD tangibly, even physically, present with them, cf. Dan. 3). The LORD will prove Himself faithful to bring us safely through whatever trial He has ordained and finally bring us into His heavenly kingdom, as the Apostle Paul testifies:

...the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength...And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me out of every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. 2 Tim. 4:17-18

Returning to the passage of 1 Peter presently before us, when Peter writes these words, “cast all your care (anxiety) upon him,” he may well have had in mind Psalm 55:22, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be moved.” The first half of the verse literally reads, “Cast upon the LORD what he has given you.” We must recognize that whatever comes into our lives is under the sovereign control and at the sovereign commission of Almighty God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our heavenly Father. The Psalmist instructs us to cast our cares upon the LORD with the assurance, “he will sustain you.” If we were to picture this verse as a three-panel picture (similar to a cartoon in a newspaper), this is what would emerge: In the first panel we encounter a man who is staggering under a heavy burden; this man is instructed to transfer his burden to the LORD’s keeping. In the second panel we find the man complying with the LORD’s command, he casts his burden upon the LORD. But in the third panel, we do not see the man walking away without a care in the world; on the contrary, we find the LORD upholding him, helping him to bear that burden or care or anxiety to a successful conclusion. The verse concludes with the emphatic assurance that the LORD “will never let the righteous be moved.” The Hebrew word ( מ וֹ ט ) translated “moved,” is literally, “totter.” The point is that the LORD will never allow the righteous to “totter” so as to fall; the LORD’s sustaining grace is ever-faithful to uphold us under whatever circumstance God has ordained for us to encounter.

We must cast our cares upon the Lord, with confidence in God. Let us take to heart such passages of Scripture as the following:

...we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, those who have been called according to his purpose. Rom. 8:28

Our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we focus [our attention] not on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporal, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor. 4:17-18

Conclusion←⤒🔗

You may say that it is very hard for you to overcome anxiety; it’s extremely difficult to accept and submit to what God brings into your life and to trust God concerning the matter. You may even say that you cannot do it.

But that is not true! As a matter of fact, we all are very skilled and very good at accepting what comes into our lives and trusting God concerning the matter; we do so on a daily basis!

Is this a surprise? You may wonder, “When do I exhibit these attributes of submitting to what comes into my life and trusting God concerning the matter?”

The answer: We do so every time we yield to temptation. Rather than resist the situation that is presented to us, we accept it and submit to it, not worrying about the consequences: this is the essence of what it means to yield to temptation. As we do so, we are trusting God to take care of the matter for us; we are trusting that He will excuse us, or forgive us and restore us.

What we really need is to ask the Lord to transform, to realign, our thinking, so that we more and more resist what God forbids us to experience (by way of the temptations that confront us) and accept what God ordains for us to experience (by way of the trials that confront us). What we really need is to ask the Lord to transform, to realign, our thinking, so that we do not to presume upon His grace as we deny His will (in yielding to temptation); but rather we trust in His grace as we accept His will (in submitting to trials).

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. What exhortation does the Apostle Peter give to all those Christians to whom he is writing? See 1 Pet. 5:5b. What N.T. incident does the phrase, “clothe yourselves with humility,” bring to mind? See Jn. 13:3-5. How does the Lord Jesus explain the meaning of His action to His disciples? See Jn. 13:12-15. As a Christian, do you willingly assume the role of a servant?

Likewise, younger men, be submissive to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another; because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 1 Pet. 5:5

Knowing that the Father had put all things under his authority, and that he had come forth from God and was returning to God, ⁴[Jesus] got up from the supper table and laid aside his robe. He took a towel and wrapped it around his waist. 'Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Jn. 13:3-5

After he had washed their feet and put back on his robe, he sat down again. Then he asked them, Do you understand what I have done to you? ¹³You call me, Teacher, and, Lord: and you speak correctly; that is what I am. ¹⁴If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹'I have given you an example, you also should do as I have done to you. Jn. 13:12-15

2. What does Peter tell us is God’s attitude towards the proud? See 1 Pet. 5:5c. Why does God oppose the proud, what do the proud seek to do, what is their ambition? See Isa. 14:13-14. How does the LORD respond to this attempt on the part of the proud to usurp the position that does not belong to him and to which he has no right? See Isa. 14:15. What testimony does the LORD make in Isaiah 42:8? Is it selfish of the LORD to protect that which belongs exclusively to Him alone? Is it not a matter of integrity, His commitment to truth, that causes the LORD to defend His glory and not allow it to be attributed to those who are undeserving of it? Note Rev. 4:11 and Psl. 115:1,

Likewise, younger men, be submissive to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another; because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 1 Pet. 5:5

You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit enthroned upon the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain! ¹⁴I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!'Isa. 14:13­-14

But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. Isa. 14:15

I am the LORD, that is my name. I will not give my glory to any other, nor my praise to carved images. Isa. 42:8

You are worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and to exercise the power, for you created all things, and because of your will they were brought into being, indeed, they were created. Rev. 4:11

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto your name give glory, because of your mercy, because of your truth. Psl. 115:1

3. What is proud, sinful man’s ambition? See Gen. 11:4. What had the LORD commanded mankind to do? See Gen. 9:1. Was not secular, humanistic mankind’s agenda to build a man-centered society done in defiance of God and to the exclusion of God? Is not the desire of his heart the same today? What is proud, sinful man’s ultimate ambition, which he will seek to achieve in the person of the anti-Christ? See 2 Thess. 2:3b-4. Is atheism (i.e. the refusal to acknowledge God) really the opposite of theism (i.e. the acknowledgement of God); or is atheism merely a transitionary stage to proud, sinful man’s ultimate aim: auto-theism (i.e. declaring himself to be God)?

Then they said, Come, let us build a city for ourselves with a tower whose top shall reach unto heaven; so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. Gen. 11:4

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth. Gen. 9:1

...[the] Day [of the Lord] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, presenting himself as God. 2 Thess. 2:3-4

4. What is the final fate God has appointed for the anti-Christ and every individual who has aligned himself with his God-defying endeavor to usurp the throne of God? See 2 Thess. 2:8; note, also, Isa. 2:11,

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. 2 Thess. 2:8

The arrogant looks of man will be brought low, and the lofty pride of men will be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted on that day. Isa. 2:11

5. Because “God opposes the proud,” what does the Apostle Peter exhort us to do? See 1 Pet. 5:6a. How are we to do so? See 1 Pet. 5:7a. What connection is there between anxiety and pride? Is not pride the delusion of being in control? Is not anxiety the desperation that accompanies the realization that you are not in control, resulting in the effort to gain control? What promise is made to all those who humble themselves before the LORD? See 1 Pet. 5:6b; cp. Lk. 23:42-43,

...humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the appointed time, ⁷by casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you.1 Pet. 5:6-7

Then [the penitent thief on the cross next to Jesus] said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' ⁴³And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.' Lk. 23:42-43