PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
1 Peter 5:6–10
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
CONSIDER THIS
In Peter’s letter to other believers, he doesn’t promise that God will lift them up the moment their knees hit the ground, but by humbling ourselves, and surrendering to God, they will be restored even if they have to suffer for a little while. Suffering is not a new concept for us as believers and it is affirmed throughout the Scriptures, but we are not to fear suffering. We are to embrace it, just as we embrace surrender.
We cannot surrender if we do not learn humility and Peter tells us how to be humble, it is by casting our worries onto Jesus. Peter’s life as a disciple was filled, literally, with highs and lows. He stood on the top of the mountain as Jesus was transfigured and God’s glory shone all around. He also hid in the darkness after he denied Jesus three times. Peter knew suffering. He also knew worry, but in this letter, he offers encouragement and support to other followers of Jesus. He tells them to cast their anxiety, not just the heavy burdens or the worries that seem impossible to fix themselves, not just one or two worries, but all of their worries. Today our challenge is not to embrace the worries, but to embrace letting them all go.
Again, sometimes words seem so simple, but the actions are so difficult. As a fisherman, Peter chose this term, cast, which provides an image for us. If you’ve seen a photo of the nets they used in the time of Jesus, you would know that these nets were not like the fishing rods we have today. The net was round with weights on the outside so as it was thrown, the net would spread out like a parachute and the weights would cause it to sink quickly in the water. Take this image and mentally cast your worries out to Jesus. Imagine them spreading out and then sinking into the water. Watch them drop below the surface out of sight.
There are two pieces of good news the Lord promises as He exchanges humility for hope. First, He will restore us and make us strong, firm, and steadfast. As we share in Christ’s suffering, we will also be restored in His character. Second, we are all in this together. As believers, we do not suffer alone and we do not have to carry the burden of surrender alone. Look around in your church and your friend group. If you have a covenant community, they are God’s gift to you so we can suffer and be restored together. If you do not yet have a covenant community, start a discipleship band because we are not meant to walk this journey alone (discipleshipbands.com).
THE PRAYER
Lord, thank You for being strong enough and willing to receive every burden we carry. For those of us suffering under the weight today, I pray that You will give us the courage to cast every worry on You so we can feel the burden lifted. Amen.
THE QUESTIONS
Are you holding back from surrendering some worries because they feel too small or that you want to handle yourself? If so, lay them down now. How has the suffering from your past affected the worry you are carrying right now?
For the Awakening,
Susan Kent
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One Response
Cast Off All Anxiety
(My waking up words this morning)
Awaken to joy.
Train yourself to be
Spiritually fed
And directly led
By Christ as your Head.
Like the Bible said:
“Awake, O sleeper,
Rise up from the dead
And Christ will give you light.”