1 Peter Chapter 5
Recently, I have been reminded of many of the old songs of praises that we used to sing in the youth group many many years ago.
When singing these familiar songs, inevitably my mind will go back to the past and think of the many brothers and sisters who were there with me.
One of the many songs that we sang was the ‘Cares Chorus’ which was inspired from 1 Peter 5:7
“casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
This is such a comforting verse and the singing of that song once again reminded me of how grateful we have a God who has always been there for us.
However, it is also very sad that when I look around, quite a number of those brothers and sisters are no longer active or coming to church any more.
Was the care of Jesus insufficient to help them continue on in their faith? Did they not also experience how God showered His grace on them?
There are many possible reasons why they no longer have much faith.
But today, when I read this chapter again, I realised that I often missed out verse 6 to go along with verse 7…
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
This is the complete sentence. It is not just about casting our anxieties on God but Peter reminds us that we must be humble.
We must choose to be humble. We must make that decision.
We must be lowly in mind and be a servant like Jesus. We must be willing to serve God by serving others. We must submit to the will of God even if we do not understand it completely.
We may have questions but these verses remind us that if we humble ourselves and submit to His will, in due time, it will all make sense as He cares for us.
There is this story that has many variations…
A woman was going home from the market carrying a big basket on top of her head. Jesus came by in a cart and offered to give her a lift home. She accepted the offer and got up the cart.
As they went on the way, Jesus noticed that the big basket was still on top of the woman’s head. So Jesus asked her to lay down the basket and rest. But she replied, “Lord! It is enough that you are giving me a lift. How can I trouble you to carry my basket too!”
We may laugh at this story but how many of us are also guilty of this?
God promises to care and carry His believers through each day. We say we entrust our troubles, cares and anxieties to the Lord. And yet, we insist on carrying our burdens and worries with us every day everywhere.
We say be cast our cares on Him but the reality is, we still hang onto them and not let go.
Let us think about whether we have truly placed our anxieties at the feet of Jesus and trust in His grace.
And here is a Youtube video of the song that we used to sing a long time ago…
