1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. ESV
Redundant? Perhaps but don't we all need t be reminded - often and loudly?
It is God's hand under which we humble ourselves. It is a mighty hand. Because it is a mighty hand it will provide all we need.
We can and should cast all our anxieties on Him. This word anxieties carries the important idea of "distractions." That is the cares that distract us from serving Him. That is a big and long list.
This also points us to what should be our main focus, "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." (WCF) It is enough (as we will see) for Satan to distract us from our duties and obligations, from our service to Him and one another. That's all Satan needs to do - that is to get our attention focused on our lack, our need, even our desires and off of Him, His grace, His promises, His power and His provision.
"Keep your eye on the ball," is not a bad admonition (I prefer it to keep your eye on the prize). If our desire is to "put it our of the park," for Him then all Satan had to do is distract us from the pitch and we'll swing and miss.
It is not just tough times that Satan uses and it is not just good times either. There are those middle of the road times when we are neither in great need nor great prosperity. For many of us, these are the times we grow slack and perhaps a little cocky. We tend to prefer to have things on cruise control. That way we can attend to other things. They may be Ok things, they may be good things- but if they are not focus on Him they are just distractions. And oh the multiplicity of distractions the world, the flesh and the Devil proved.
It is important that we keep our hearts under His scrutiny. John Flavel in his book, Keeping the Heart, goes into great detail concerning the difficulty and imperative of this duty. Our heart are easily distracted even mis-directed. Though they are His they are prone to wander towards things necessary. The bright and shiny things are as distracting as the dark and gloomy ones.
That is where remembering our moral littleness needs to be tattooed on our hearts. This is a constant duty, keeping the heart. We need to keep it for Him and from sin. the idea of "keeping" is related to the old "keeps" that castles had. The "keep" was the last bastion of safety when the castle was attacked. Once the walls or gates were breached everyone fled to the keep.
Typically the keep was a rounded tower several stories high. It was entered via a stairway made of wood. Once everyone was inside the stairs were burned or otherwise dismantled denying access to the attackers. The "keep" was well supplied with food and water and often had some secret passage for those inside to use for escape.
Such is the keeping of the heart. It assumes the walls and gates are or will be breached and provides us with protection. We live in hostile territory. We are, whether we admit and accept it or not, surrounded by barbarians who are bent on conquering us. Though we know they can never separate us from the love of God they are content to separate us from a sense of the love of God. They are content with tipping the scales in favor of fearing them and away from trusting God. They desire to destroy our effectiveness by distraction and distress. hence, we must work to keep our hearts safe and protected in Him.
Now a "keep" is a small and confining place. But it is a safe place. Such is our life in Him. It is small and confined. There are many places we can not go and many things we can not do because we are in His "keep." But outside the "keep" our enemies wait. Though were ever we go He is with us and we are in His care we also know that there are places of great danger and things to do that carry great hazard. Why dear brothers and sisters would we desire to venture beyond the "keep?"
Humility - casting all our cares on Him - keeps us in His "keep." Pride makes us think we can venture forth into the enemies camp and not be harmed. Foolish, foolish pride convinces us that we have reached a point where our need for Him is somehow diminished, that we can handle somethings on our own. Foolish, foolish pride.
Yes, we might be thrown into a lion's den. We might be thrown into a fiery furnace. But we are never told to go looking for a den to invade or a furnace to fling ourselves into.
Only foolish, vain pride could ever move us to that. There is a story of a believer who during English Civil War cried out, "Forward. God is on our side!" He mounted the barricades behind which he had been safe. After only a few paces he was cut down by a cannon ball.
Pride, even in a believer, is still pride.
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