How to Deal with Your Anxieties
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2010 · 22 August 2010
“Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.”
Peter asks elders in verse 3 to be examples to the congregation. And we find in Hebrews 13:7, how we need to do that, "Remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you, remember them. And considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." So the first thing he says is the people who led you and taught you who lived out the spiritual life, you imitate them.
There's a second necessary attitude that goes right along with the first one that Peter gives us and that is an attitude of humility. The matter of maturity is a matter of humility. And notice how it applies to everyone. He says, "You younger men, (I'm particularly concerned about you because you have the potential to be disobedient) be subject to your elders, but all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another."
Now to support his exhortation in verse 5, Peter uses the Old Testament. He quotes Proverbs 3:34 which says, "God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble." Why? God hates pride.
Proverbs 6:16, "There are six things which the Lord hates, yes seven which are an abomination to Him." He starts off, "Haughty eyes," it's another word for pride, that is haughty eyes, He hates pride. In Proverbs 8:13, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth I hate."
So, Peter says, "Look, you just need to humble yourself. Whether the mighty hand of God is there to deliver you, whether the mighty hand of God is there to protect you through testing that seems so difficult, or whether the mighty hand of God is there to strike you in chastening, submit yourself and humble yourself.
Don't question God, don't argue with God, don't debate with God. Humble yourself under His will, under His Word and under His power. And Peter follows this up in verse 6b, “that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.”
The opposite of boldness is fear or anxiety. So it's not surprising that God not only calls us to be bold for Christ and his kingdom, but He also gives us a way to get rid of our fear and anxiety.
Giving us courage and taking our fear away are two ways of doing the same thing. Tonight’s text is not a direct call to boldness. It's a call not to be anxious. And so it's an indirect call to boldness and courage.
But there is something very unusual about this text. The threat in this text that tempts us to be anxious is not explicitly prison or injury or slander or plundering of property or loss of money. The threat here is humility.
Or to put it another way, the reason Peter deals with the problem of anxiety is because he is dealing with the problem of humility. Somehow the command for humility makes the command to cast our anxiety on God more urgent, more needed.
Notice this in the flow of thought from verses 5–7. The chapter starts with a word to the elders of the church to shepherd the flock willingly and eagerly and without being motivated by money. Then the focus turns to the others in the church.
Verse 5-6, “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; [then to all the church] and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”
Now right here we can see the connection between this call for humility and the command to cast all your anxiety on God. The command for humility seems to cause anxiety to rise and so Peter deals with it. Verse 6-7, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
The point is that casting your anxiety on God is somehow part humbling yourself. Casting your anxiety on God is crucial if you are going to humble yourself under God's hand and clothe yourself with humility toward each other.
Casting your anxiety on God is not something separate that you do after you humble yourself. It's something you do in order to humble yourself, or in the process of humbling yourself. There is something about casting your anxiety on God that makes humbling yourself under God and before others possible.
That's the connection between verse 7 and what goes before. "Clothe yourselves with humility toward each other (v.5) and humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God ( v.6) by casting your anxiety on God ( v.7)."
But why does humility create anxiety? Why does humility take courage? Why do we need someone to take our anxiety away in order for us to be humble? You can understand the answer if you just start thinking of some examples of humility.
What does it mean to be humble? It means, when you've made a mistake, admitting it and saying you're sorry. It means, when you are weak or sick or inadequate for a task, not being too proud to ask for help. It means doing some ordinary jobs and spending time with ordinary people and being indifferent to praises or criticisms of men.
In other words, in all its forms humility is the risk of losing face. Humility is the risk of not being noticed, not being appreciated, not being praised, and not being rewarded. Lowliness runs the obvious risk of being looked down on.
And being looked down on is painful. Being unnoticed and unappreciated is painful. Losing face is painful. Being made little of is painful. And therefore humility causes anxiety. And the command to be humble under God and to be clothed with humility toward each other makes us anxious.
So if we are really going to be humble, we have to solve this anxiety problem. If we want to have the courage of humility and the boldness of lowliness, someone is going to have to take our anxiety away.
That's the point of verse 7: "Be humble by casting all your anxiety on God, because He cares for you." God is the focus in both verses 6 and 7, and the connection is this: before you can put yourself humbly under God's mighty hand, you have to put your anxiety in God's mighty hand.
There is a fearful cowering under the mighty hand of God for the rebellious and the proud. But that is not what Peter is calling for in verse 6. The humility God commands by Peter is the peaceful humility that comes because we have cast our anxiety on God with the confidence that He cares for us.
These two images side by side are very important to us as Christians: humbled and lowly under the mighty hand of an infinitely holy and powerful God, and confident and peaceful because that very God cares for us and carries our anxiety.
So how do you cast your anxiety on God? This word "casting" in verse 7 occurs one other time in the New Testament—in Luke 19:35, in exactly the same form. It's Palm Sunday and the disciples have been sent to get the donkey for Jesus to ride on. Then verse 35 says, "They brought it to Jesus, and casting their garments on the colt, they set Jesus on it."
So the meaning is simple and straightforward: if you have a garment on and you want a donkey to carry it for you, you "cast" the garment on the donkey. In this way you don't carry it anymore. It's on the animal not on you. The donkey works for you and lifts your load.
Well, God is willing to carry your anxieties the same way a donkey carries your baggage. One of the greatest things about the God of the Bible is that He commands us to let Him work for us before we work for Him. "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." (Isaiah 46:4). "From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who works for those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 64:4).
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "If He feeds the birds of the air, do you think He'll not feed you? If He takes care of the lilies of the field, do you think He'll not clothe you? (Matthew 6:26-28)." Paul says in Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches and glory in Jesus Christ.”
God wants to be a burden bearer because it demonstrates His power and puts Him in a class by himself among the so-called gods of the universe. "No one has seen a God besides you, who works for those who wait for Him." So throw your anxiety onto Him, He wants to carry it.
Here is where the rubber meets the road. How do you practically make the anxiety transfer from your back to God's back? The answer is: trust that He cares. Believe this promise. Trust Him. It's a matter of practical trust.
That promise does not hang in thin air. It is connected to a command and the promise is meant to show you how to obey the command. The command is, “Cast your anxiety on God.” God cares for you which means that He cares about the thing that has you worrying. He knows exactly what is worrying you.
So often we trust God in the abstract. Yes, he is a trustworthy God. Yes, he can save sinners in general. Yes, He will work it all out for my good and His glory. But the text says, lay specific anxieties on God.
Trust Him specifically that He cares about that. Believe that He is God, His purposes cannot be thwarted. "I know that you can do all things, says Job, and no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).
When it says that He cares, it means He will not stand by and let things develop without His influence. It means He will act. He will work. Not always the way we would. He's God. He sees a thousand connections we don't see.
The lost credit card might result in an evening of searching and take you away from a TV program that unbeknownst to you would have put a lustful desire in your mind and made prayer unappealing so that you failed to seek God's power and missed a golden opportunity to speak of Christ to a ready colleague the next day, which because of that lost credit card you did not miss.
God sees a thousand connections we do not see. Casting your anxiety on God means that you trust Him for handling these specific situations. If you believe that He cares (which is what His promise says), and believe that He is God, and then your fears will be lifted.
There is one other thing we should remember about casting anxiety on God, namely, the connection with prayer. Philippians 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
So 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast your anxiety on the Lord by trusting that he cares for you." And Philippians 4:6 says, "Cast your anxiety on God by praying and letting your requests be made known to him." The connection is simple. Trusting that God cares about your anxiety is expressed in prayer. Prayer is the spoken trust turned toward God.
Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Praise God and thank Him because He is sovereign over our anxieties and is wise enough and caring enough that we can entrust ourselves to Him.
Pray for humility and for more of the Spirit of the lowly, servant, risk-taking Christ. Philippians 2:3–8, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Pray for more faith in God's promises and trust that every obstacle to joy would be overcome. Pray for people of all outreach ministries will cast their anxieties on God and hear his call.
Pray for courage and humility on the front lines of world missions and that this year would be a period of powerful advance for Christ and his kingdom in Africa and Asia, as well as in America.