How Can I Trust God With My Anxiety?
This past Sunday we finished the book of 1 Peter. One of the key texts we saw in the final section of the letter was 1 Peter 5:6-7. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
From this text we saw that if we remain proud then God cannot exalt us and he cannot care for us. When we continue under our own power, believing that we have everything under control, or that we can solve our problems, then we are unable to experience God. Humility is recognizing our weaknesses and asking God to work.
The way that we are to humble ourselves was found in verse 7, we cast our anxieties on him. We don’t turn to alcohol or drugs to numb our anxieties, we don’t turn to money to solve our problems. We give our anxieties to God. God is the one who provides wisdom, strength, faith, and the material needs that we need to make it through each day.
What was not made as explicitly clear in the message was the role of trust. Without trust, it will be impossible to be humble. In fact, without trust humility might actually cause more anxiety in your life! Being humble will mean serving others and receiving no praise, to be looked down upon by others who are climbing the social and workplace ladders faster than you, it can mean not feeling appreciated as you put others first. For many, humility is admitting that you weren’t able to do something and so you needed help, making you seem weak. Each of these humbling experiences has the potential to cause pain and further anxiety to you.
Trust is knowing that someone else does recognize you and will care for you. Trust says that when you humble yourself that you will be cared for. Verse 7 said that God cares for us. When you read that, do you think of God’s promises and his faithfulness, or is God’s care for you simply an abstract thought? Trust should be specific, when you cast a specific anxiety on him then he cares specifically about it.
Luke 12:22-31 is a call to not be anxious about your life. It says that the birds of the air and the lilies of the field do not work, yet God proves for them and they reflect His glory. The scriptures continually point us to God as our father, the perfect father who cares for all the needs to his children. It reminds us that he is all-knowing and that nothing escapes his notice. The Bible also affirms God’s love for His people.
Child of God, your father sees your specific anxiety, He knows what pains you experience, and He has promised that He will care for you in it. Humility is trusting that He will care for you when you give it over to Him, when you cast your anxieties off of you and on to Him. Trust Him with every situation and trust in His care for you.
