Casting in Humility

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7

I worry about things. Not obsessively, but I do worry. Most people do. Worries are referred to as “cares” in the Bible. Some cares are rather mundane, like paying the bills or dealing with the aches and pains of growing older, but others are more serious. Regardless of the severity of the “cares,” God tells us to give them to Him because He wants to handle them for us. He loves us and cares about our well-being. But giving our worries to God requires something that I hadn’t ever realized. It requires a humble spirit to “cast one’s cares” upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:6).

To be humble means to have a low esteem of one’s importance. It is the humble spirit that seeks God because in Him is their only hope. The humble man realizes he is powerless to deal with so many things, and he needs help from an all-powerful and loving God. A prideful person doesn’t want God to handle their cares because they believe they can handle things themselves. When individuals have an excessively high opinion of themselves, they no longer see any need for God in their lives.

However, with a spirit of humility, one realizes their need God every moment of every day. He is the one who supplies all of our needs (Philippians 4:19). He is the one who gives us life (Job 33:4), and He is the one who protects and helps us in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

Today, there are a myriad of problems that confront each of us, and God is the only one in whom there can be permanent and lasting solutions, but we must bow before Him in all humility when we seek His help. When we do, God will respond.

The Bible tell us…

• God hears the prayer of the humble: “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.” – 2 Kings 22:19
• God gives grace to the humble: “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” – James 4:6
• God delivers the humble: “And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.” 2 Chronicles 12:7
• God lifts up the humble: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” – James 4:10
• God exalts the humble: “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” – Luke 14:11
• God heals the dwelling place of the humble: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14

When we approach the Lord as humbly as we know how, seeking His forgiveness on bended knee and with a penitent heart, He will hear from heaven and take care of us as only a loving Father can!

If thou wouldst have the dear Savior from heaven
Walk by thy side from the morn till the even,
There is a rule that each day you must follow:
Humble thyself to walk with God.

Just as the Lord, in the world’s early ages,
Walked and communed with the prophets and sages,
He will come now if you meet the conditions:
Humble thyself to walk with God.

Just as the stream finds a bed that is lowly,
So Jesus walks with the pure and the holy;
Cast out thy pride, and in heartfelt contrition
Humble thyself to walk with God.

Humble thyself and the Lord will draw near thee,
Humble thyself and His presence shall cheer thee;
He will not walk with the proud or the scornful,
Humble thyself to walk with God.

(from “Humble Thyself to Walk with God” by Johnson Oatman)

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” 1 Peter 5:6

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“He that is down needs fear no fall. He that is low, no pride; He that is humble, ever shall have God to be his Guide.” – John Bunyan