How to handle worries?

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. (1^st Peter 5:6-7)

The above scripture from the Bible starts by saying ”therefore” we should humble ourselves. When it says therefore, it is likely to believe that there is a ”why” - a reason why saying ”therefore”. If you look at verse 5, you will see that it says ”God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. So because God gives grace to the humble, Peter in this scripture says that we should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting all our worries upon Him.

If we are proud of ourselves, it means that we are proud of something that we have achieved. And being proud of ourselves might also make us think that we can or have to handle worries that come across in life. But also in this matter, God’s grace is underlined. He asks us to cast our worries upon Him. If we stay with our worries, our focus will be changed. Instead of focusing on Him and what He has already done in grace, we tend to focus on how to find a solution to what is worrying us. And when we allow that to happen, we will face a challenge according to the verse that follows the above scripture. Because verse 8 says that we should be sober and vigilant, because the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The beginning of verse 9, says that we should resist him (the devil), steadfast in faith. The challenge is that we are less vigilant and less capable to resist the devil.

In Galatians chapter 3 it says that before faith came we were under the law and that after faith came we are free from the law. In Romans chapter 10 it says that we are saved if we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. So faith is to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, and ”after faith came” refers to the fact that Jesus has set us free from the law.

If God was mighty to send His own Son to save us and if Jesus fulfilled the law and thereby set us free from it, it is likely to believe that He can also handle our worries. Let us be steadfast in the faith that He has saved us by grace and grace only. If we are not steadfast in the faith, nor will we be vigilant to what the devil is doing. The more we worry, the more the worries grow. The devil wants us to focus on our worries. But God wants us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand and thereby rest in His grace and peace.

In Matthew 6:25, Jesus says: ”Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

Whatever we worry about, there is one good and important advice to remember: Do not worry! Cast your worries upon the Lord!