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“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you” —1 Peter 5:6-7 A friend said to me one day after I asked how she was doing, “Oh, I’m fine today, but I’m sure tomorrow will take care of that.” My heart went out to her because I knew this was a woman beleaguered and burdened by worry and anxiety. Worry is a disease that robs you of your vitality, your enthusiasm for living, and even your health. Medical doctors and psychologists agree that many ailments, aches, and pains are caused by something much less tangible, the anxiety of the soul. Ralph Waldo Emerson once spoke of “the torments of grief you endured, from evils that never arrived.” Worry becomes a constant companion, a burden that weighs you down and slows you down. Worry can change your physical countenance. A heavy heart will rob you of your joy and ability to see beyond the nagging complexities of daily life. That sounds a bit exaggerated, you say. I mean, don’t we all worry some? It’s a normal human emotion! Yes, it may be “normal.” But let me take it a step further. It’s not only a disease. It’s a sin. “Worry is an old man,” I once read, “with a bended head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks is lead.” Worry violates the most basic commandments of God and robs us of a close relationship with Him. Worry can turn small matters into heavy, devastating circumstances. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,” Peter wrote, “that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). I like the French translation, which reads, “Unload your distress upon God.” The Phillips Modern English translation puts it, “You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him.” That thought begins with, “Humble yourselves.” It is humbling to acknowledge that we cannot take care of everything ourselves. When worry takes over our thought processes, we reflect a lack of faith in God’s ability to work out the details of our lives. “Anxiety is not only a pain which we must ask God to assuage,” C.S. Lewis said, “but also a weakness we must ask Him to pardon – for He’s told us to take no care for the morrow.” He promised us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”(Hebrews 13:5). He longs to heal us if we will truly cast our cares, unload our distress, and throw our worries upon Him.
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