Whether you’re feeling weary or going through a trial – this message guides us on what to do when we find ourselves in difficult situations.
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5 NKJV|
Pride demands that God bless me in light of what I think I deserve. Grace deals with me on the basis of what is in God and not on the basis of anything in me. If you are willing to be nothing, God will make something of you.
Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you,
1 Peter 5:6 AMPC
Humility is shown by our ability to cast our cares upon Him. The idea is, “throw it away from you.” The pressures and the burdens of your life are so heavy and difficult that it takes great concentration of effort to put them on Jesus.
We cannot do God’s work when we are weighed down by our own burdens and worries
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, [once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
1 Peter 5:7 AMPC
Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).
Psalm 55:22 AMPC
Casting is done with 2 hands: The hand of prayer and hand of faith.Prayer tells God what the care is, and asks God to help, while faith believes that God can and will do it. Prayer spreads the letter of trouble and grief before the Lord, and opens all its budget, and then faith cries, ‘I believe that God cares, and cares for me; I believe that he will bring me out of my distress, and make it promote his own glory.
Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
1 Peter 5:8 AMPC
Satan is a lion who may roar but who has been de-fanged at the cross. Yet the sound of his roar – his deceptive lies – are still potent and he has the power to devour souls and rob Christians of effectiveness.
- He roars through strong temptation (Distraction)
- He roars through persecution (Discouragement)
- He roads through accusations against God (Offense)
Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world.
1 Peter 5:9 AMPC
We also take comfort in knowing that we are never alone in our spiritual warfare. Our brothers and sisters in Jesus have fought, and are fighting, the same battles.
12 The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible]. 13 Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment].
Psalm 92:12-14 AMPC
We must put our trust in the God who doesn’t change. Our hope in God and His Kingdom becomes the anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. A righteous Christian will flourish like a palm tree, strive to be upright by keeping God’s commandments, bear fruit while developing a closer relationship with God, and will not be easily shaken by the storms of life.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Galatians 6:9 NKJV
Oftentimes, it can be tough not to grow weary in doing good, but God does not want us to grow weary in doing good. God wants us to continue to do good and shine His bright light to others.
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. 29 He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; 31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
Isaiah 40:28-31 AMPC
The Lord gives us remedies to doubts that creep in about his ability to help or his care to help when we are in a great crisis. These words are addressed to his people; those who have been redeemed by his grace. He points us away from the crisis (and doubts about him) to facts about him.
So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).
2 Corinthians 12:0 AMPC
Believers must trust God the most in areas of their lives where they are weakest, or where they suffer the most. God’s power is never more convincing than when a human perspective produces no answer about how to get through what confronts us.
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, 2 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.
Hebrews 12:1-3 AMPC
Even in our difficulty if we would consider Jesus we could be encouraged, not discouraged, knowing that we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus did not regard the cross itself as a joy. But He could look past the horror of the cross to enjoy the joy beyond it. The same mentality can enable us to endure.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
