1 Peter 5:6-11
Humility and Reliance

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

New Revised Standard Version

Peter wraps up this letter to church leaders with some intensely practical and wise advice: humble yourself, don't worry, keep alert, and rely on God. Each point stands on its own, and each work together to shape a Godly lifestyle.

The call to humility is a recap of the verses that went before. Peter urges the elders of the early church to serve with humility: "Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock." The temptation is so great to take pleasure in the respect and attention given by others, and in doing so, to distract the people's attention from Jesus, and to distract the leader's focus away from Jesus. The only accolades that count will come when we see Jesus; until that time, don't let up in our call to be servants.

When all is well, a leader needs to beware the sin of pride. When all goes badly, a leader needs to beware the sin of worry. But in real life, most of us are tempted by both pride and worry at the same time!

At some level, the roots of pride and worry are the same, relying more on ourselves and less on God than we should. Peter exhorts his readers not to worry, to give God all your anxieties. Why wouldn't we? The Creator of the Universe wants to care for us, to take all those anxieties. What is required of us is to continue strengthening the spiritual discipline of trust in God.

But, Peter warns us, it is Satan's very nature to make this as difficult for us as he can. When he "roars," it is to break our spirit and cause us to despair. When he "hunts," he is hidden from our view so we can't tell when and in what ways the temptation will come -- or we might even think the danger is past. When he "attacks," he is sudden, and he attacks us at our weak points -- and we have many, many weak points. That's why Peter reminds us that our strength, our only strength, is our faith in God.

Stand firm in that faith, he urges, knowing that we are never alone. We have brothers and sisters around the world who are standing firm in the faith, and we have brothers and sisters struggling just the same way we are struggling. God provides resources and support for us within our Christian communities, if we look outside of our own struggles. Most of all, our Savior knows just how we are struggling, because, as Hebrews 4:15 says, Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses because he was tempted in every way that we are tempted.

Only faith can protect us, and there is only one Source of power we can use to be successful in our Walk, and that is God. But, Peter reminds us again and again in this passage what an eternally magnificent Source that is! The mighty God cares for us and has called us to eternal glory. Peter emphasizes that God personally will "restore, support, strengthen, and establish you." What have I ever done to deserve the personal attention of God? Nothing, but that is no concern to "the God of all grace!"

I so deeply want to make a difference in the Kingdom of God, and that strong desire can be such a large opportunity for sin to fester in my life. It is at the point where I want to know how I will make a difference, and at the point where I take ownership of that small piece of the Kingdom work, that I start drawing power from myself instead of God. In comes the worry, in comes the pride, out goes my opportunity to make a difference, and around comes Satan prowling like a lion.

There is only one way for me to make a difference in the Kingdom of God, and that is to be humble, to trust God with all my cares, and to grow in faith and in my reliance on God. When I do that, God does the rest.