Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), 1 Pe 5:6–7.
The picture that I get this morning while reading this scripture is of a giant hand covering a person like an umbrella. The person under the hand is swinging and kicking at the hand becuase the hand is bothering them. Somehow this hand has violated their space and has no right to be there. The hand only wants to potect the person and lift them up so they can have a wider view. A view closer to the view of the owner of the hand.I know, strange right?
The key words that I see are humble, under, exalt, cast and care. I know, this is a strange interpretation but I’m just going with it. Humilty and submission to God are crucial to living a life of holiness. One day we will be caught up at His call to abide with Him forever but while we are here there are worldly things to deal with.
Anxiety and stress are stumbling blocks to victory. The thing is that we already have victory. Jesus has given us eternal life and in the meantime, abundant life here on earth. However, as long as we are here, there are things that do not comply with our victory and we need to deal with them.
Continuing with the strange image that I started with, imagine taking the cares and stresses that plague us and put them into the giant hand that hovers over you. What does that look like? Ask God to take those things away that stress you out unnecessarily. Most things that we worry about do not even manifest therfore, are not real. Those things that are real may not be the direction that God wants to send you. Why stress over something that was never meant for you.Close communication with God the Father will help to eliminate unnecessary stress and even make a course correction.