GOING DEEPER — 1 PETER 5:6–11

WHAT DO WE DO WHEN LIFE BECOMES TOO HEAVY?

Peter has just told everyone to clothe themselves with humility.

Now he continues:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time.”
— 1 Peter 5:6

Humility here is more than being modest around other people.

It means recognizing that God is God and we are not.

Peter’s readers could not control everything happening around them. They could not determine how society would treat them. They could not make their suffering disappear.

But they could place themselves under the “mighty hand of God.”

That expression had a long history in Scripture. God’s mighty hand delivered Israel from Egypt.

Peter reminds suffering Christians that the God under whose hand they have placed themselves is not weak.

He is able to act.

But Peter adds an important phrase:

“at the proper time.”

God determines the time.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH OUR ANXIETY?

Then comes one of Peter’s best-known statements:

“casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.”
— 1 Peter 5:7

This is closely connected with verse 6.

Trusting God with our anxieties is part of humbling ourselves before Him.

We admit that there are burdens we cannot carry by ourselves and circumstances we cannot control.

Peter does not say Christians never feel anxiety.

He tells anxious Christians where to take it.

And the reason is wonderfully simple:

“because he cares about you.”

The God who rules history also cares about the individual believer who is struggling within it.

“YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL”

Peter immediately follows with a warning:

“Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”
— 1 Peter 5:8

Peter does not want trust in God to become carelessness.

Christians trust God and remain watchful.

The word translated “adversary” could be used for an opponent or accuser.

Then Peter identifies him:

the devil.

He pictures him as a roaring lion searching for prey.

The picture is frightening, but we should notice what Peter does not say.

He does not tell Christians to panic.

He does not tell them to become fascinated with the devil.

And he certainly does not tell them that the devil is equal to God.

He tells them:

“Resist him.”

HOW DO WE RESIST THE DEVIL?

Peter explains:

“Resist him, firm in the faith...”
— 1 Peter 5:9

Resistance is connected with remaining firm in faith.

The devil wants suffering Christians to abandon their trust in God.

Peter tells them to stand their ground.

This fits the whole letter.

When Christians are ridiculed—remain faithful.

When Christians suffer—remain faithful.

When Christians are misunderstood—remain faithful.

When temptation comes—remain faithful.

The battle is not won by becoming obsessed with Satan.

It is won by refusing to abandon our trust in God.

“THE SAME KIND OF SUFFERINGS”

Peter then reminds them:

“knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.”

Suffering can make us feel isolated.

Why is this happening to me?

Peter reminds his readers that they are part of something much larger.

Other Christians are also enduring hardship.

They are not alone.

The church is a worldwide family, and believers in other places are fighting the same battle of faithfulness.

“AFTER YOU HAVE SUFFERED A LITTLE WHILE”

Then Peter gives them hope:

“The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.”
— 1 Peter 5:10

Notice the contrast:

A little while of suffering.

Eternal glory.

To someone presently suffering, the suffering may not feel brief.

Peter is looking at it from the perspective of eternity.

Whatever suffering Christians experience in this life has an end.

What God has called them to does not.

“GOD HIMSELF”

There is another beautiful detail in Peter’s promise.

He says God “himself” will:

restore you,

establish you,

strengthen you,

and support you.

Peter does not promise that Christians will never be knocked down.

He promises that suffering does not have the final word.

God does.

The same Christians who presently feel weak will not always be weak.

The God of all grace is at work.

DOES THE DEVIL CONTROL OUR SUFFERING?

Peter’s picture keeps everything in perspective.

There really is an adversary.

There really is danger.

There really is suffering.

But Satan is not presented as the ruler of the story.

Peter begins with:

“the mighty hand of God.”

And he ends with:

“To him be dominion forever. Amen.”
— 1 Peter 5:11

That is where the power finally belongs.

Not with Rome.

Not with persecutors.

Not with suffering.

Not with the devil.

With God.

THE BIGGER POINT

Peter does not pretend that Christian life is easy.

There are worries to carry.

There is an enemy to resist.

There is suffering to endure.

But none of these things is greater than the God in whom Christians have placed their trust.

So Peter gives suffering Christians a remarkably practical set of instructions:

Humble yourself before God.

Give Him your worries.

Stay alert.

Resist the devil.

Stand firm in faith.

Remember that you are not suffering alone.

And never forget that suffering is temporary while God’s promise is eternal.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

How is casting our anxieties on God connected with humility?

Does Peter tell us that feeling anxious means we do not have faith—or does he tell believers what to do when anxiety comes?

What does Peter actually tell Christians to do when confronted by the devil?

Why might remembering other suffering Christians help us remain faithful?

What is temporary in verses 9–10?

What is eternal?

And when circumstances seem beyond our control, can we still say:

I may not know what happens next, but I know whose mighty hand I am under?

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