It seems like the devil has done a pretty good job of making us forget he’s around. As I was working through some of the verses in the new Testament that refer to the devil setting a trap for us as believers, 1 Peter 5: 5-10 stood out to me. That’s where I’ll land for today.
Verse 5, Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
This youth doesn’t necessarily refer to an actual age, but lack of maturity in faith. As we’re building our faith, getting to know God better and learning how to trust Him, the more mature believers are to help us stay on track. This is why having a church body that studies and grows up in the Lord is so important. The devil doesn’t want us to submit to more mature believers or ask for help and understanding.
Next, we are told to clothe ourselves with humility toward one another. Any time we’re told to clothe ourselves, it’s because what we are instructed to do will feel unnatural. We won’t come to our own understanding that we need to be humble. We will need to put humility on like a sweater every morning, because in our sin nature the go to is pride.
I wake up in pride; it’s not something I have to put on. Believe me when I say, you don’t want to hang out in opposition to God, and it says right here that He opposes the proud! I don’t want to have anything in me that God is opposed to- I struggle enough without struggling against God.
Verse 6-7: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
We are to be humble towards others and submit ourselves under God’s authority, so that he can exalt us. He wants to exalt me, not me exalt me. This sounds eerily like Satan. He wanted to exalt himself so that he could be like God.
Aren’t my anxieties mine? Aren’t I just an anxious person? Can I keep some of my favorites? Like worrying about my kids? Or being concerned about how I look on social media? Oh, I guess that’s why it says ALL.
Well, I’m not sure God is big enough to handle my grandkids too. Wouldn’t it be better if I was anxious and worried about them?
All means all. Didn’t we just talk about exalting ourselves? Do we really think we’re big enough to handle our kids, grandkids, spouse, the other drivers around us, or our nation? All means all, my friend.
Verse 8: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Over Christmas and New Year, 2018-2019, my in-laws took the whole family to Africa for the trip of a lifetime. We were on safari in two different camps, and we had an amazing experience. One of the camps was in the middle of the Serengeti preserve. At night there were guards outside of our tents with machetes. Several times in the middle of the night I was woken up by hyenas or lions prowling and making noise close by. Talk about having something to be anxious about! Except I knew the guards were accustomed to their duty.
The thing about hearing a lion roar in the middle of the Serengeti is that you can’t tell how close he is. The echo of the roaring sound carries for miles. Our guards would tell us how close they were the next day- usually not very.
That’s why it’s important to be sober-minded and watchful. We have to know the devil’s schemes well enough to be able to recognize them; like our guards knew by their experience how close the lions were.
There is a note in TPT for 5:8. It says, “The implication in the context is that if you do not bring your worries and cares to God, the devil will use depression and discouragement to devour you. Just as young lions go after the feeble, the young, and the stragglers, so the enemy of our souls will always seek out those who are isolated, alone, or depressed to devour them.”
When the devil can get us alone, not submitting to our elders and swimming in anxieties, it’s easy for him to pick us off, one by one. When we’re strong in our faith, surrounded by mature believers, we’re like a herd of zebras confusing the lion with our stripes!
Verse 9: Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
Wait a minute. Other people are going through painful experiences too?
The devil loves us to hold onto our anxious, depressed thoughts. That’s when we’re most likely to isolate. When we don’t remember that other people are suffering we’re tempted to say, “But for me_____”, fill in the blank. When we don’t cast all our anxieties on the Lord, it’s easy for the devil to whisper his lies in with our spiraling thoughts. Things like, God won’t be there for me when I really need him, I have to take care of everyone or they’ll get hurt, or I’ll always be a failure- I never do anything right.
We have to be real with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we’re putting up a good front and not letting others in to share our struggles, those lies are able to take root, and the longer they’re allowed to grow, the harder it is to pull them out.
Verse 10: And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
There’s going to be suffering for a little while. If God didn’t even spare His own son, why would we think we will be spared? The good news is that God wants to restore us, to confirm us, to strengthen us, and establish us. In the Passion Version, it says we will be personally and powerfully restored, making us stronger than ever. This says a lot, coming from Peter. Remember, he denied Jesus three times. He had felt some major humiliation and anxiety.
There are powerful directives in just these six verses. They are:
Surround yourself with other believers-you will know whether they are mature or not by their fruit.
Put on humility, towards others and God. Wait for God to exalt you.
Cast your anxieties on him. Be watchful of what is going on in your mind. Resist the devil's input-don’t allow anxiety to isolate you.
Remember, others are hurting, too. None of us are perfect and we’ve all gone through suffering.
This too, shall pass. God will strengthen you and establish you- remain steadfast in your faith.
God wants to be our living hope. When you wake up in the morning, clothe yourself in Christ-in humility. It’s much more difficult to go off the rails when you have the right sweater on.
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