1 Peter 5:6-11 : A Message of Comfort.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because He cares for you. Discipline yourselves, and keep alert. Like a roaring lion, your adversary, the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
I grew up in a deeply Christian setting, both at home and at school so this is one of the first verses I memorized. It was always taught to us in the context of sin. Be alert so that you do not fall into sin. It was a stern warning to young Christians about the perils of letting your guard down out there in the world. As an adult, I have come to relate to this scripture in a different way. In my low moments and times of depression, I have found it to be a warm reminder of God’s love and care.
Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand
The essence of humility is to take yourself away from the center stage and let God fill that space. I have learned that in moments of deep sadness, I tend to focus too much on myself; my troubles, inadequacies, failed efforts, etc., and when life gets overwhelming, my attitude becomes; “I cannot do it, I am too weak, I am worthless.” What we need to do is get rid of all the “I” and focus on God. Once we recognize his strength and exalt him in his awesome might, whatever was drowning us cannot measure up to the strength of Him. God is always stronger, He is always wiser, and He can do it all.
So that He may lift you up in His own Good time
I will emphasize the statement, His own good time. Our timing is no good. Jesus says in Matthew 7:11 that our Father knows how to give us good things and this includes perfect timing. When it feels like we cannot spend another moment in a difficult situation, that is when we must recall that God’s process and timing will yield infinitely better results for our lives. In his good timing, he will give you what is guaranteed to be good for you, anything you crave or try to get on your own will be a weak and temporary substitute. In God’s good timing, He heals completely, teaches effectively, rebuilds, and restores.
Cast all your cares on him because He cares for you
He says, “come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”. We are tempted to try and first sort things out on our own, but the bible says cast all your cares upon him. All means All, as in, everything. Nothing is too big or too small or too embarrassing, or too old. Leave it to Him. He isn’t going to sort you out because He is contractually obligated, He isn’t going to do it just to get it out of the way either, and He certainly isn’t going to do it to give you some momentary happiness. He is going to get right into it and take you by the hand, taking it as seriously, even more seriously than you do because He cares for you. He loves you so deeply that when you bring your troubles to him, you can rest in the assurance that He will take care of you.
Discipline yourselves, and keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary, the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour
The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He will steal your joy, kill your hope, and destroy your will to live. He is always on the prowl looking for someone to victimize. One day he tells you, you’re not good enough, and the next that you’re useless, the other day he says you’re not smart enough, the next day you’re stupid.
Each time we let our guard down and entertain his lies, we serve ourselves up on a platter to be devoured. We need to be sentinels to our own minds, making sure he doesn’t creep in. We need to be able to identify and shoot down any falsehood before it can take root. One needs to be deliberate about it, even in the darkest valleys, we need to remind ourselves of the truth of God constantly. Which truth? That we are loved, we are useful to God, and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in His image. And not necessarily because we can see it, (because our eyes can only see so far and our minds can only comprehend so much,) but because God’s word says it .
Stand firm in your faith and resist him
Faith is easy to profess when we see the goodness of God flourishing around us, when we are fully aware of him standing close beside us, and when we are living in success and peace and harmony. But when we see all these things around us, is it faith we are exercising? Faith is the evidence of the things unseen (Hebrews 11:1).
This means, that it is what we hold on to when Good seems more invisible than usual. When God told Noah to build an ark or when he told Abraham that he would have a biological child with Sarah in his old age, these promises sounded more like a myth than fact; they had to hold on to what God had said, not what they could see. In the Garden of Eden, the snake’s strategy was to sow seeds of doubt. “Did God really say that?” Did God really say he will never leave nor forsake us? Did God really say he will heal us? If you stand firm in faith, the devil will not be able to sow these seeds of doubt, and you will resist him.
For you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering
You are not alone. It doesn’t matter how many times you think “no one gets me” or “no one could possibly feel the way I do right now.” The truth is you are not alone. Many are going through trials and many have overcome them You are not alone in the trials and you will not be alone in victory.
And finally, The God of all grace… will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. He will do it himself. God loves you. He is personally invested in your situation. You are his wonderwork. He won’t leave the job half done. When he is done with you, you will be stronger, refined, and established like a city on a hill, giving light to all who see you.
