Casting All Your Care Upon Him
Oct 2014 |
I Pet 5:6-7 - “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.”
THE PASSAGE
In Peter’s first epistle, he is writing to a group of Christians who are undergoing great persecution. After encouraging them in regard to keeping the faith and warning them against false teachers, he addresses several commands regarding their conduct. As Christians, how we act, the expression of our daily lives before others, preaches a dynamic sermon. Peter knows that if these persecuted Christians can hold to their simple faith in Christ (see I Pet. 5:8-9) during the attacks of the enemy, the God of all grace (I Pet. 5:10) will equip them to both travel through the current adversity and will conform them to the image of Christ, despite the opposition. We will deal with just one of these commands that is coupled with an exhortation.
HUMBLE YOURSELF
The command to “humble yourselves” almost seems out of place when one thinks of the persecuted Christians who would receive this epistle. It is almost as though Peter is adding hurt to heartache. Why would Peter want to make things more difficult for these besieged believers? Peter is giving them (and us) the only route by which we can spiritually successfully travel through a difficult span of time. He says that we must live a humble life.
Time and space don’t allow me to develop the idea as I would like but let us look toward the example of Christ’s earthly sojourn to gain insight as to what Peter meant. Christ humbled himself in the sense that He refused to depend upon His own person and chose instead to rely entirely upon God, not for just one issue or circumstance, but for the entirety of His time as a man on this earth. He laid aside His right to depend upon Himself as God and, as a man, relied totally upon the directions, leading, support, and intervention of His heavenly Father to guide His life. In John 8:29, He testified to this fact by saying, “And He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.”
Jesus displayed true humility and totally followed God’s direction for his life, even to His death on Calvary. Even while facing the death of the Cross, Jesus trusted that His Father would come through for Him, which He did, by granting the Saviour the power to raise Himself from the dead on the third day and by exalting His name above every name everywhere for all time. Thus, the example of totally trusting in the Father to direct the steps of our lives is a truly humbled life.
If this is the life we are living as a Christian, then we can fulfill the exhortation of Verse 7 quite easily. It follows the pattern of humility and surrender. It follows the pattern of self-denial and faith in God.
CASTING ALL YOUR CARES UPON HIM
The word casting literally means “to throw or cast upon.” The idea is that of a child trusting in the parent to produce the basic needs of the child and, as well, to furnish the child with all that delights and favors life. As a parent, I desire for my children to have the best. I hope they know that. Your heavenly Father desires His best for you. We might not understand what He is doing or why He is going about it the way He is, but He knows more than we. As a child who loves and trusts his parents, we take all worry - not just the big things but all things that overly concern us - and cast the anxiety and torment of that situation into His hands.
Notice that this process is not to be a one-time event, but rather a consistent lifestyle. We should approach life carefully, prayerfully considering every choice and every action. We should be responsible for ourselves and not carry a “whatever will be, will be” attitude. However, when true concern transcends into worry, we must recognize it. When we fret, lose sleep, are tormented, or agitated to the degree that we cannot think straight, we are taking too much upon ourselves. By living the humbled life, one is now able to take these cares and cast them into the hands of our loving, heavenly Father, fully trusting in His ability to take care of the situation. It is here that we will find peace that passes all understanding.
HE CARES FOR YOU
If God’s track record tells us anything, it speaks of His great love toward humanity and His surpassing concern, care, and covenant love expressed toward those who accept His Son as their personal Saviour. He went so far as to send His only begotten Son to die on a cruel cross to redeem all who will believe. He did not pay that price for believers and then leave us to fend for ourselves in our own limited strength and ability during our time here on this earth. His grace is sufficient for every need of our lives. So, live the life of true self-denial. Humble yourselves and cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.
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