Quick Devotional on Worry 2

Quick Devotional on Worry 2

1 Peter 5:7

casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you

<Establish the Need> What do you worry about during the week?  This passage addresses the problem of worrying.

Purpose: We will answer three questions to help us with worrying.

• What is anxiety?
• What do we need to do with anxiety?
• Why should you handle your anxiety biblically?

 

What is anxiety?

1. Passage: “anxiety” (1 Peter 5:7a)
2. Proof:
   1. The Greek word is “μέριμνα”
   2. Outside the Bible in classical Greek use it has the sense of attentive concern and a state of disquiet within oneself.[1]
   3. It appears in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible both in noun and verb form.
      1. Noun form: “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22)
         1. Here the Hebrew word for “burden” is translated in the Greek using the same term as “anxiety;” thus we understand that anxiety is a mental burden.
         2. Notice this verse is very similar to 1 Peter 5:7 with the theme of casting our anxiety to God!
      2. Verbal form: “I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, Footnotes:” (2 Samuel 7:10)
         1. The verb “not be disturbed” has the idea of “not be trembled”
         2. Greek word translating this verb is “μέριμνα.”
         3. Thus we see the idea of trembling from concern.
      3. The word appears six times in the New Testament and always in a negative sense: Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19 (parallel), Luke 8:14 (parallel), Luke 21:34, 2 Corinthians 11:28 and 1 Peter 5:17.[2]
      4. Worry is a theological problem
         1. The parallel passages of Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:19 (parallel), Luke 8:14 (parallel) shows the error of denying God’s care and love.[3]
      5. God is concern about our anxiety! He is talking about it in the Bible!
      6. God is concern about our anxiety! In the Greek “all your anxiety on Him” is nuanced, appearing before the verb and also in the beginning of the verse even though it’s the object.[4]
3. Practice:
   1. Do you have the following symptoms?[5]
      1. Feeling nervous, restless or tense
      2. Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
      3. Having an increased heart rate
      4. Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
      5. Sweating
      6. Trembling
      7. Feeling weak or tired
      8. Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
      9. Having trouble sleeping
      10. Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
      11. Having difficulty controlling worry
      12. Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
   2. Remember anxiety has the meaning of weight from our survey; so what is weighing you down?
   3. Remember anxiety has the meaning of tremble from our survey; so what is something you tremble about?

 

What do we need to do with anxiety?

1. Passage: “casting all your anxiety on Him” (1 Peter 5:7a)
2. Proof:
   1. Two commands is given by Peter.
   2. Command 1: Cast our anxiety to God: “A” (v.)
      1. What is casting?
         1. This word depicts an energetic and decisive action.[6]
         2. The verb appears only one other time in the New Testament in Luke 19:35 to talk about throwing down clothes: “They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.”
         3. Just as clothes can be separated from the wearer so anxious thoughts must be separated from the worrier.[7]
         4. So we see the command to remove anxious thoughts from our minds.
      2. What do we cast? “all your anxiety”= Notice it states “all your anxiety” and not just some.
      3. Who do we cast our anxiety to? “on Him”
         1. That is, God.
         2. Practically casting our anxiety on Him means we take it to God in prayer.
         3. We also pray to God and trust in Him to guide us and helps us in HIS WAY, not OUR WAY.
   3. Command 2: Humble yourself: “Humble yourself” (v.6)
      1. The Greek verb “casting” is a participle that is dependent upon the verb in the previous verse (6) which is the command to “humble yourselves”[8]
      2. There is a relationship of giving our anxiety to God and also humility.
      3. In fact sometimes we have anxiety because in our pride we think we can control things we can’t control.
3. Practice:
   1. Pray to God about what you worry.
   2. Pray to God to make you trust in Him.
   3. Also remind yourself that God’s help is not always going to go according to your ways, and you need to trust in Him.
   4. Pray also for humility.

 

 

Why should you handle your anxiety biblically?

1. Passage: “because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7b)
2. Proof:
   1. Literally in the Greek this clause is: “because to Him He cares concerning you”
   2. The word “because” gives us the reason why we should cast our anxiety to God.
   3. The reason we cast our anxiety to God is because He cares for you!
   4. The personal nature of God’s care is stress in the Greek text since “He/to Him” is placed in closer proximity with “on Him” in the previous clause.[9]
   5. Recall that Psalm 55:22 is similar to our verse and thus we have two more reasons why we can cast our anxiety upon Him:
      1. “and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22b)
      2. “He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22b)
3. Practice:
   1. Meditate on the attributes of God; it will help you cast your anxiety to God!
   2. Which one of the attributes of God we have seen that you struggle with to trust that God is this way?
      1. Caring
      2. Sustainer
      3. All-powerful
   3. Of course when we think about God not allowing the righteous not to be shaken we realize we are sinner; so how can we be righteous? Through Jesus Christ!

 

[1] “μέριμνα” The New International Dictionary of the New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Second Edition), (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 3:278.

[2] “μέριμνα” The New International Dictionary of the New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Second Edition), (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 3:278.

[3] “μέριμνα” The New International Dictionary of the New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Second Edition), (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 3:278.

[4] D. Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), 312.

[5] Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961

[6] D. Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), 313.

[7] Phil Moser, Safe in the Storm (Biblical Strategies, 2013), 11.

[8] D. Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), 312.

[9] D. Edmond Hiebert, 1 Peter (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), 313.