Journey Through The Bible
     Old Testament Reading: 2 Chronicles 1-4
     New Testament Reading: 1 Peter 5

All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you (1 Peter 5:5b-7).

Humility is that strange attribute that once you think you have achieved it; you no longer are!

Genuine humility is not demeaning ourselves and thinking poorly of ourselves. It is not thinking, “I’m just the dirt under the toenail of the body of Christ.” It is simply not thinking of ourselves at all!

All believers should strive for humility; it is a great virtue. Just as Jesus laid aside His outer garments and put on a towel to become a servant, so each of us should have a servant’s attitude and minister to each other.

However, we cannot be truly submissive to each other until we are submissive to God. Peter, quoting Prov. 3:34, states, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It takes grace to submit to another Believer, and God provides that grace if we humble ourselves before Him.

In Peter’s day, the saints were passing through the fires of affliction. The best policy, Peter says, is to take them humbly from the mighty hand of God. He will sustain His people and exalt them in due time.

When Peter first followed Jesus, he thought Christ would lead Israel to victory over the Roman Empire. So, when the Lord went to the Cross, it shattered his dreams of greatness. Yet Jesus’ resurrection showed him there was a more important purpose for his life than he had ever conceived. There was an eternal kingdom to build—and God worked powerfully through him. The same is true for you. You may not understand why the Lord has allowed your dreams to fail, but humbly accept His will, knowing His plan for you is better than you might imagine.

Quoting from Psalm 55:22, Peter informs Believers they are privileged to cast all their anxieties on the Lord with the strong confidence that He cares (v7). Worry is unnecessary; there is no need for us to bear the burdens when He is willing and able to bear them for us. Worry is futile; it hasn’t solved a problem yet.

A preacher once said: “Worry is a sin because it denies the wisdom of God; it says that He doesn’t know what He’s doing. It denies the love of God; it says He does not care. And it denies the power of God; it says that He isn’t able to deliver me from whatever is causing me to worry.” Something to think about!