Cast Your Anxiety

I’ve been stressed. More so than I have been in a long time. So it’s natural that this verse, that I memorized so many years ago I couldn’t even begin to guess when it was, has been on my mind off and on the last few weeks. But you know what I haven’t memorized? 1 Peter 5:6 or 1 Peter 5:8.

Book.
Chapter.
Verse.
CONTEXT.

Anyone who knows me knows how much it bothers me when verses from scripture are taken and used without knowledge of the context surrounding them. And yet, I am guilty of doing just that when it comes to this verse.

God in His gentle wisdom brought it to mind this morning on my way to work. So when I got there I opened my Bible app and started reading.

You know what I’ve missed? Humility. Everything in the context surrounding this verse tells us how we need to be humble, and in our humility, to cast our anxieties on Him.

In other words, recognize my own shortcomings and limitations and GIVE. IT. ALL. TO. GOD.

If I’m honest, a lot of my stress...scratch that, ALL of my stress...is from having a prideful expectation of myself and what I can do. I haven’t been seeking to honor Him in all I do, and instead have been too focused on how poorly *I* might appear to those around me.

You can’t be humble and proud at the same time. And if you can’t be humble, it’s impossible to cast your anxieties on the only One who can take them away and replace them with peace.

So I stood before my Savior this morning and laid it at His feet. And then I stood in front of 75 people and admitted I am not an expert at everything I do and asked for grace.

And you know what? The peace I have from jumping off of the pedestal I’d created for myself and trusting that He will catch me is greater than I could have imagined.

If you see me trying to climb back on it, do me a favor and give me a gentle push. 😉