1 Peter 5:6 “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.”
Are you familiar with the word “oxymoron”? It’s a term that can be defined as “a self-contradictory word or group of words.” Some examples include such phrases or words as “awfully good,” “bittersweet,” and “fuel efficient SUV.” I’ve heard people jokingly use the word “student athlete,” as an oxymoron when they’ve become aware of the grade point average of those on certain college football teams. Well, in the verse above we have the same kind of thing being referred to, but perhaps more subtly. It’s a command to God’s people to “humble yourselves.” As such, it’s pointing to our natural tendency to be prideful. We are to constantly fight against this, for it makes no sense for those who follow the Son of God, Who, amazingly, so humbled HIMSELF. But then to the oxymoron. If people are so apt to pride, why then the command to cast our anxieties on God? If we’re so self-sufficient and confident, why then are we anxious about anything? But isn’t that how we, so often, tend to be? If we would just think about it, we would realize that our anxiety stems from nothing more than our insufficiency. We know, deep down, that we don’t have all the answers we need or have all the ability we would like. Our anxieties spring from our realization that we lack control of so much that affects our lives, all the while we can act so proud, as if we DO have control of everything. It’s an oxymoron. It makes absolutely no sense.
And so we are told to humble ourselves “under the mighty hand of God.” It’s both a recognition of Who really IS in control all things, and that it often takes the mighty hand of God TO humble us. So often it is in the trials that the Lord allows to touch our lives that our pride is stripped away. It is when this occurs, when our weakness is exposed, that the mighty hand of God is so often seen. That’s why Paul could say, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Which brings us to the other half of the verse above, i.e., that we are to be “casting all (our) anxieties on him, because he cares for (us).” You see, it is in those times of weakness that anxiety can raise its ugly head. It is in those times when we find that we don’t know enough, aren’t strong enough, or don’t have enough money to face the challenges we face in life that fear, anxiety, and eventually depression can overwhelm us. But that’s not God’s will for us. He doesn’t allow trouble to touch us so that we fall to pieces and be crushed under the weight of it. Rather, so often we are challenged by trials so that we might learn to rely not on ourselves but on God. Again, looking to Paul, we see that that’s exactly what God did for him. Listen to his testimony recorded for us in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”
The mighty hand of God: it has the power to humble us and at the same time free us from the anxiety that attacks us when that humbling occurs. It is in this way that God, alone, receives the glory, rather than us receive the vainglory we so often seek in our pride. Praise God for His mighty and glorious work in our lives.
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