{"id":229672,"date":"2024-05-28T14:51:47","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T18:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liveoriginal.com\/?p=229672"},"modified":"2024-08-06T11:43:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T15:43:08","slug":"ringing-reminders-to-pray-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liveoriginal.com\/ringing-reminders-to-pray-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth to Overcoming Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cCast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you\u201d (1 Peter 5:7). Now, you might look at our verse and think to yourself, <\/span>Ya think I haven\u2019t tried that one before? <\/span><\/i>This verse standing on its own might seem like the same flippant response that a friend might say to you when they\u2019re trying to be helpful: \u201cVera, just give your anxious thoughts to God.\u201d But as we dive into this verse and the surrounding passages, we\u2019ll unpack deep riches and otherworldly peace. What we want is a magic wand to wave over our anxiety and make it all go away, but what we will get is a deep understanding of God in the midst of our right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our verse comes in the middle of a letter written by Peter, one of Jesus\u2019s main dudes. In fact, Jesus told Peter he would be the rock on which the church was built. Peter is writing this letter to encourage the church, the followers of Jesus throughout the world. In this chapter, I just want you to know that I\u2019m going to be referencing all different parts of his letter to help us understand the bigger picture of what Peter was saying. If you have time, right now would be a great time to just take fifteen minutes and read that letter called 1 Peter. If you don\u2019t have a Bible handy, you can Google it; we use the NIV translation. Even though our verse doesn\u2019t come until chapter 5, I want to start our discussion with how Peter starts off his letter:<\/span><\/p>\n

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God\u2019s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith\u2014of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire\u2014may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Peter 1:3\u20137<\/span><\/p>\n

Y\u2019all, we could just bask in that glorious passage for a good long time, am I right? If that\u2019s you right now, go on ahead. For the rest of us, stick around as we unpack this passage together. I want you to see that before Peter teaches them anything at all, and well before we get to our verse, he reminds them of <\/span>this <\/span><\/i>foundational truth: because Jesus has conquered death itself, we can have a <\/span>living <\/span><\/i>(not dead) hope for a <\/span>new <\/span><\/i>life that\u2019s no longer riddled by our old self\u2019s struggles (like our sin and this fallen world and the resulting anxiety it brings us). As followers of Jesus, we have a <\/span>living <\/span><\/i>hope for heaven, where struggle and sin and suffering (<\/span>and <\/span><\/i>anxiety) are completely eliminated. But while we\u2019re still living in the struggles of this world, we can keep the faith because God will shield us by his power. And in the end, though we\u2019ve endured all kinds of trials (like anxiety), we will have a strong faith! And what\u2019s more? We will get to share in the praise, glory, and <\/span>honor of God!<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, yes, yes!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Peter <\/span>knew <\/span><\/i>that followers of Jesus needed to first and foremost be reminded of the reality of their situation in light of Jesus and what he has done! Surely his friends still struggled, surely they <\/span>were <\/span><\/i>anxious. Otherwise, why would our verse even be in this letter? And surely they would continue to struggle with the same sorts of things as long as they drew breath. But in the midst of their struggle and their anxiety, Peter reminds them of the truth of Jesus and the reality of his victory for all time. So, when we\u2019re facing something hard, like trying to overcome our anxious thoughts, we need to be reminded of the <\/span>living <\/span><\/i>hope that Jesus was raised from the dead! He conquered every hard thing when he conquered the grave. If Jesus was raised from the dead, anything is possible. Even being freed of our anxiety!<\/span><\/p>\n

Anxiety is hard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus was raised from the dead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amen!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you\u201d (1 Peter 5:7). I can\u2019t tell you how eager I am to live out our verse! I want to cast my anxieties at the feet of Jesus. I want to believe that he cares for me. And I know you want to believe that too! But there are these negative thoughts, lies really, that we\u2019re believing that keep us from doing so. We might <\/span>know <\/span><\/i>in our minds that God is in control, but our practical response is anxiety. Our hearts still race with worry, telling us that our mind is wrong. In order to fight our anxious thoughts with God\u2019s truth, we must first see what the root of that anxiety is. There are three basic types of lies that cause our anxiety; let\u2019s take a look.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout his letter, Peter addresses the struggles his friends have been facing. These are the very things that are giving them anxiety, the things Peter is encouraging them to give to God. And if we flip back just one chapter before our verse, we see him address the stark reality of their struggle. Peter\u2019s friends are facing persecution, trials, and all sorts of suffering, and he draws attention to the temptation we all have to elevate our struggles above God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Peter 4:12\u201313<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that life is hard! Yet I often look at my own \u201cfiery ordeal,\u201d and I am bewildered! Sometimes it feels like life is happening <\/span>to me<\/span><\/i>, that my situation is master over me, and I am subject to its bidding. Have you been there before? It\u2019s during times like this that we are tempted to think:<\/span><\/p>\n