8.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• When Jesus comes again, we will share in his eternal glory.
• While we wait for that day to come, we must humble ourselves.
• To humble yourself is to admit, “I am weak, but God is strong.”
• To humble yourself is to trust in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• When we are humble, we can throw all our worries on God.
• God wants to carry our worries for us, because he cares for us.

8.2 – 1 Peter 5:5b-11←⤒🔗

^5:5 And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

^5:6 And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand

^5:7 by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.

^5:8 Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.

^5:9 Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering.

^5:10 And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

^5:11 To him belongs the power forever. Amen.

© NET Bible

8:3 Waiting for glory←⤒🔗

Our passage comes from 1 Peter. It is a letter that the apostle Peter wrote to a group of churches. The Christians in these churches were being persecuted. Their neighbours and the police made life very difficult for them. This is because the Christians did not believe the same things as they did. Christians did not want to worship humans or other gods. They said there is only one Lord: Jesus Christ.

Peter wants to encourage these Christians. He reminds them that all power belongs to God (verse 11), not to Satan or people. He says they must remember their calling from God. God called them to share in his “eternal glory in Christ.” Their suffering will only be for a little while — but their glory will be forever, eternal (verse 10).

We are also waiting for Jesus to come again, just like the Christians in the time of Peter. When he comes again, we will share in his eternal glory. That is God’s calling (plan) for us. What does the “eternal glory in Christ” mean? It means that we will be like Jesus Christ (see 1 John 3:2)!

In this life we are still weak in many ways. Many things happen that make us tired, sad or worried. But when Jesus comes again, God will “restore” us (make us perfect). He will take away all our weakness and make us “strong, firm and steadfast” (verse 10).

8.4 Humble yourself←⤒🔗

What must we do while we are still waiting for that wonderful day to come? How can we stand strong in this life? The answer is to humble ourselves (verse 6). To humble yourself is to admit, “I am weak, but God is strong.” When you humble yourself, you stop trusting in your own plans and your own strength. You also do not think that you are stronger or better than others. You put all your trust in God — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:

The Father: He has made you and he knows exactly what he is doing in your life. You can trust him to take care of you every day, in the small things and the big things.

The Son (Jesus Christ): He has died on the cross in your place. Through faith you are part of him. You can trust that he took away all of your sins — even the sins that you are going to do in future.

The Holy Spirit: He has come to live in you. He uses his Word (the Bible) to bring change in your life. You can trust that he is helping you every day to become more like Jesus Christ. You can also trust him to give you strength and peace in times of suffering.

Do not trust in yourself. Trust in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is what it means to humble yourself under God’s mighty hand (verse 6). God gives grace to people who are humble (verse 5). When the time comes, he will lift them up (verse 6).

8.5 He cares for you←⤒🔗

People who trust in themselves are always worried. They think that they must be strong and make their own plans. They also feel that they must work hard to be better than other people. But God wants his children to be different. They must humble themselves before him. In this way, they don’t have to worry about anything. They can give all their worries to him.

Verse 7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Do you know what the word “cast” means? It means to throw. God wants you to throw all your worries on him. Think of a young girl who is carrying a bucket of water. If her father comes and says, “Throw your water into my bucket,” she will do it. She will be glad to rest her arms!

God wants to give you rest from your worries. He does not want you to carry them. He wants to carry them for you. In Lesson 7, you saw how to “throw” your worries on God: by prayer, petition, and thanksgiving.

In this world there are many problems and temptations. We are not strong enough to handle all of them. But our God is almighty. He has the strength to handle everything. Today Satan is making a lot of trouble for God’s children (verse 8). But Satan has no power against God. Satan can only do what God allows him to do. And one day, God will destroy him completely.

Verse 7 also gives us the reason why we should throw all our worries on God. The reason is “because he cares for you.” God loves his children and is with them all the time. He does not want them to live with worry and fear. He wants to help them with everything in their lives. He even let his own Son die for them, to free them from sin and death.

Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand. Throw your worries on him every day. He cares for you and he promises: in his time, he will lift you up.

Please write down: How did it feel to speak to someone else about the worry in your life? And how did you feel after you and this person prayed together?