Arrogance and Anxiety

As we close out our Take Heart series, Ben Stuart shows us an important connection that Peter makes between anxiety and arrogance. For many of us, our decisions are driven by anxiety that is rooted in our desire for control. What would it look like for us to humble ourselves and let the God of the universe lead our story instead of trying to take the wheel for ourselves?

Anxiety is an engine. It'll get us moving, but it can be dangerous. We are getting to where we think we want to go, but we're getting beat up along the way.

Peter connects anxiety with arrogance and humility. Part of walking away from being arrogant is being humble enough to hand over your anxiety to the Lord. There is a connection between arrogance and anxiety and the remedy is humility. (Disclaimer: not all anxiety is caused by arrogance. It is highly encouraged to address whatever anxiety you are experiencing and get the help you need to deal with it through a trusted community and professionals.)

Notice how he uses the phrase, "all of you" in 1 Peter 5:5b. He's been writing to an oppressed people and just finished telling the elders to not dominate the young, and the young need to submit to the elders. Peter is exposing the fault lines found between the ages. There is stress and where there is stress, there is anxiety. Anxiety and fear seek to control. Anxiety becomes a threat to unity and productivity.

Next Peter says to clothe themselves in humility, meaning wrap ourselves in it, not pushing an agenda, but putting others' needs ahead of our own. Why? Because "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble." Fear seeks control, but pride portrays a mentality that if we were running things, things would be better. If we are telling God that our plan is better, that's not going to end well. Usually, selfishness is the root of that and God will not bless that. Since God opposes the proud, Peter tells them to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God. Not just His hand, but his Mighty hand. This is a constant point in Exodus and Deuteronomy. We can rest because we know God is in control. This only works when we believe God exists. Humbling ourselves means that we don't try to grab the wheel from God, we do our part and trust that God knows better than us.

Do we believe that God is strong enough to take care of us and supply all our needs? Do I believe that He is wise enough that at the proper time, He may exalt us? Do we believe that He's loving enough to want to?

1 Peter 5:7 says to "because He cares for you." In Greek, it means "to Him it matters about you." Peter is not shaming the people for being stressed and having anxiety. He's acknowledging it, but he's letting them know they have an alternative. He is saying to cast all their cares onto God, He's strong enough to take care of them, wise enough to know when and how, and loving enough to want to. The same is true for us. When we understand that we have that kind of power at our disposal, we can be a non-anxious presence.

Real-life example, if you work in an office, notice that a lot of the time the ones who get elevated are not the ones desperately seeking power: desperation smells. The people who are comfortable with God running the world, who recognize that God has given them gifts and talents to be used to serve others; are the types of people that rise the fastest. You want to bless those types of people.

The remedy for many of our anxieties is to release our control and recognize that there is a mighty God that rules over all. If we are humble under the Almighty, it liberates us from anxiety. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that if we don't cast our anxieties on the Lord, we'll start listening to all the other voices. We have an adversary that is just waiting for us to separate and become vulnerable. We are either going to follow the Lord who wants to exalt us or an enemy who wants to devour us. Verse 8 starts by saying to be sober, stop numbing everything and stop putting ourselves even more at risk.

1 Peter 5:9 warns us to resist the devil. How do we resist him?

We must stand firm in our faith. The enemy didn't come with a massive weapon, he came to Jesus trying to make Him question if God really cared about Him. Jesus responded by saying that He was trusting His Father. We will do the same, we will trust our Father, release our fear, and stand firm in our faith. Standing firm in our faith means we say, "I trust the way you made the world, I trust how you move in it, and I'm moving with you." We can be teachable and understand that we have a teacher who wants to lead us.

We're all struggling, but we'll struggle together and then one day we will be vindicated. As Jesus suffered, we will suffer, but as He rose victorious, we'll rise victorious. We're with Him. He will give us grace, restore us, lift us up, and plant our feet.

So, what do we do?

• We clothe ourselves with humility towards others.
• We humble ourselves towards the Lord.
• We cast our anxieties on Him.
• We are sober-minded and watchful.
• We are firm in our faith, knowing we are not alone.

What does God do?

• He opposes the proud.
• He gives grace to the humble.
• He exalts us.
• He cares for us.
• He strengthens us.
• He establishes us.

We do our part and trust God to do His. As we trust Him, He cares for us. On the other end of this suffering, there is glory as we release fear and walk by faith. When we walk through suffering well, we'll see others into glory.