February 27th, 2025
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Some of you may be very fond of the classic hymn "What a friend we have in Jesus". The lyrics are extremely edifying to us especially in those seasons when we need to be reminded of the great gift of prayer. It speaks of the privilege we have in praying to God and the needless pain we endure as a result of not expressing our cares to the Father. However, beyond just forgetfulness and negligence of prayer, we at times even hold our own doubts of if God is even listening to what we pray. Does God really care about my prayers? Is He even listening at all? I am sure we have all been at the bottom of that pit a few times before in our Christian journey.
The real part of this question is probably the saddest state of the Christian heart. It is when the very thing we have been praying for and believing for has yet to come to pass. When we have clung to His promises day after day and when we have uttered the same words in prayer every night, only to see that nothing has happened yet. There is a empty well of sorrow and despair left at the end of all that we have poured out before God. And we come to the place of truly believing that God has stopped caring for us. We might not say those words out loud but deep down those are the thoughts that slip into our minds.
We are not alone in these questions as many characters in the Bible found themselves asking the Lord the very same thing. David in Psalm 13 pleads with the Lord "How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart" (Psalm 13:1-2). These are seasons in our lives where it so difficult to trace the hand of God. We are left wondering why He has brought us to such a place in our walk with Him. Or why life has taken such a sharp turn for what seems like the worst. However we find ourselves, the encouragement today is that although we may not be able to see God's hand in this situation, we can certainly trust in His loving heart for us with absolute confidence.
This is where our passage today becomes such an anchor for our souls. Right before we dare to become frustrated and even angry with the Lord, we must obey the words of this text. We must humble ourselves or lower ourselves under God's mighty hand. Instead of standing to our feet ready to give God a piece of our minds, He invites us to sit down for just a moment. And likely if you're like me, this action is the hardest part. I want to skip ahead and begin casting all my anxieties upon Him without assessing the posture of my own attitude. I might be casting my cares but my heart is arrogant and my pride is lifting me up almost as if I am telling God what to do. It is very possible that we are not sensing the Lord's listening ear because we have rushed into our requests with a boastful and proud spirit. If we truly want to experience the peace of God's caring heart for us, we must learn to pray with humility and gratitude first. Sit under His mighty hand and let Him be the lifter of your head.
It has never been the case that God has forgotten about us or that He has somehow stopped caring. It is not in His nature to do such a thing. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22). If He clothes the grass of the field and feeds the birds, what won't He do for His children (Matthew 6:25-30)? He is the Lord of all creation and yet He is so incredibly mindful of us so as to care about our every waking moment (Psalm 8:4). Peter sets all our minds at ease with the four words we all long to hear "He cares for you". Don't give up in your supplication and repeated prayers. Allow your faith in God to be strengthened every single day. Surely, we serve a gracious, loving and caring heavenly father. He has never and will never forsake you in your time of need. As the hymn goes, "Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all sorrows share? Jesus know our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer".