So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
How do we humble ourselves, how do we put on this garment of humility? For instance, does Peter show any concern with how we think about ourselves, or implicate that we ought to spend time meditating on our liabilities and failures, to meditate on the negative about ourselves? Such meditation is what we often imagine humility to be, in contrast to thoughts about our greatness and sense of entitlement which we recognize as pride. But both of these are different poles of the same sort of pride that keeps us trapped within the prison of ourselves. It has been said that humility is not primarily a matter of thinking less of ourselves but rather thinking of ourselves less.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.
The prideful person responds to anxiety either with boastful self-assurance or with a sense of despair in the face of the impossible. The humble person does not insist that all depends on herself and instead actively chooses to rely on God. She does not simply develop such a fortified persona of virtue that anxieties just bounce off like arrows against armor. This desire to be so put together that one doesn't need to respond again and again to anxiety is probably an illusion, and certainly not where we begin. Rather, the impetus to anxiety does come to us, and we do feel it, but the choice of what to do then remains. We can cling to it ourselves as though it is a problem we should be able to solve or we can instead cast it upon God who himself cares for each of us.
God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.
It is a great illusion that we can fight our battles apart from God's help. And so, as we do fight, he calls us in to remember our need for him, and to actively rely on his assistance. The history of Israel was replete with success when they were willing to entrust their battles to the Lord, and with failure when they insisted on doing things in their own way according to their own desired timetables.
He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’” (see Second Chronicles 20:15-17)
It is not natural for us, at least insofar as we are fallen creatures, to entrust a battle to the Lord. Battles seem to be too urgent, pressing, and life threatening to risk to something as ethereal and elusive as faith. But we are called to remember that our battles are not finally about flesh and blood, but spiritual realities unseen under the the surface. The opponent is ultimately the devil, the lion that roars with hunger to devour us. To try to handle this opponent on our own is certainty of failure. Victory is only possible for those humble enough to entrust their battle to the Lord.
The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent (see Exodus 14:14).
Does trusting the Lord for victory imply that we might not have to suffer "a little"? According to Peter it is rather implied to be certain that we will. It can be seen as a test of trust, a purification of our faith. God wants us to know how we behave when times get tough. Do we continue to rely on him or do we fall back on our own limited resources? Yet the promise for relying on him is great.
The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.
With each victory that the Lord wins in our lives we become more and more able to trust him about the future, less and less unsettled by the brief momentary afflictions that come to us, as we await the hope of eternal glory (see Second Corinthians 4:17).
Humility is the prerequisite to fight the battle for the soul of the world, to take up the great commission of Jesus to evangelize every creature and all nations. We are told that we are not to worry about what we are to say, and can only do this if we heed the advice of Peter to cast those cares upon the Lord. We are told that the Lord himself will work through us and confirm ours words with accompanying signs. But we ourselves cannot produce or demand such signs. It is humility alone that can receive them. Those who speak new languages, handle serpents and poison without harm, and work mighty deeds of healing are not those who are entrapped in a subjective analysis of their own merits. Rather we must become like Peter who was utterly convinced that the healing of the paralytic had absolutely nothing to do with him, but was the work of Jesus himself. He who knew his own limitations all too well was nevertheless able to be bold about the power of Jesus that could work even through him.
And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? (see Acts 3:12).
What of us? Is God able to work through us, or do we see our liabilities and faults as insurmountable obstacles to his power? Let us learn to be humble, both in regard to our strengths and our weaknesses, and bold in the power of the cross of Christ.
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (see First Corinthians 1:31).
It is this boldness that assures us of victory, and which makes us "know the joyful shout" as we walk the light of the Lord's countenance.
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