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Lesson Notes: 1 Peter 5:7
(NIV based)
TITLE: Cast All Your Anxiety On God
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READ: 1 Peter 5:7, with vv.4:19; 5:5b-6 for context
What is "anxiety"?
- - ‘anxiety’ -
(AHD) “1. A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties.
2. A state of intense apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation, often to a degree that the normal physical and psychological functioning of the affected individual is disrupted.
3. Eager, often agitated desire.
Also: an uneasy, unrest-ful, troubled, disturbed, or distressed state of mind or mental pain; suggests feelings of fear and apprehension, especially when these emotions seem unrelated to objective sources; combines serious thought with emotion; active and sometimes excessive concern for the well-being of self, another, or others.”
Anxiety about what?
- - Suffering or potential suffering due to submitting to those in authority over you.
(v.5)
- - Unfair treatment by others. (v.4:12,14a,16a)
- - Not being or holding the status you rightfully should hold. (v.5a)
- - The natural vulnerability you open yourself up to by willingly submitting to someone who is totally incompetent, uncaring, or even abusive.
- - “All” other areas in which pain, harm, hurt, difficulties, conflict, or etc. are expected, possible, or perceived as likely to occur.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” sounds a lot like what other phrases that have been used in 1 Peter?
- - v.4:19 “…those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator…”
- - v.3:12 “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer…”
- - v.2:23b “…Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
- - v.1:13b “…set your hope fully on the grace to be given you…”
- - v.1:5 “…who through faith are shielded by God's power…”
For those of us who have problems with anxiety or worry, how easy is it to do what this verse says?
Why do we have such difficulty doing this?
- - We can bring our anxieties to God but we often do not release them to God or leave them released to God.
- - Some of us have bondages to anxiety, being enslaved to it.
- - We naturally want to take matters into our own hands and resolve pain-causing situations or avoid them altogether rather than go into them and trust someone we cannot even see (God).
What results does anxiety produce in a person's life? Make a list of the good results and a list of the bad, as many as you can think of, and then compare the quantity and quality of the good results with those that are the bad results.
This verse makes it seem so easy. Is it really this easy to “cast all anxiety on Him”?
- - YES - it is a choice; and
- - NO - if we have this stronghold;
- - NO - if we have issues of distrust of God;
- - NO - if we want to be the god of our own life, to run it as we see fit (which is rebellion and pride).
Why list the reason for casting all our anxieties on Him as “because He cares for you”?
- - Because this principle encompasses:
- God’s concern for you;
- God’s closely monitoring observation of your situation;
- God’s power or "mighty hand" to change your situation; (v.6)
- God’s wisdom to do what is best;
- God’s goodness to bring good out of a bad situation;
- God’s eternality to know exactly what is coming in the future;
- God’s justice in making sure future rewards / punishment are dispensed as a result of your situation;
(v.4:5,17-18)
- God’s providence of taking action to provide care for you.
Does casting all your anxieties on Him somehow connect to humility?
- - Casting all your anxieties on Him frees you up to be truly concerned about the needs of others rather than focus on what might possibly happen to you.
- - Pride opens the door for the devil. (vv.8-9)
- - Anxiety makes us more vulnerable to the devil’s activities / schemes; v.5:8 - let your guard down and you may lose control to the devil’s schemes; v.5:9 - not resisting the devil may facilitate you wandering from the faith.
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BIG IDEA: God will care for and sustain you within whatever painful trial you may go through, so establish full trust in
Him.
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MAIN POINT: What would you say is the main point in these verses?
IMPORTANT SUB-POINTS: What are some other important points God is making here in these verses?
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APPLICATIONS: What applications can you think of for how we should respond to the concepts in these verses?
- - Entrusting your anxiety-generating situation to God is better than giving in to the anxiety because the dreaded event or situation may arrive regardless of your efforts to preclude or alter it.
- - Engaging in anxiety does not accomplish what God desires, which is for you to exercise faith in God, confidence He will get you through the dreaded situation somehow, and acceptance of whatever happens because God is allowing the dreaded situation to work out the way that it is.
- - By faith, hope for the best but prepare to accept and adjust to the worst.
- - God may actually want you to go through the suffering intrinsic within the dreaded situation you are facing.
- - So, turn your dreaded situation over to God (relinquishment) and let God deal with it however He so chooses.
- - And then accept the outcome as allowed or possibly ordained by God.
PERSONALIZED APPLICATIONS: From these verses, what do you think God wants
you to learn, or know, or remember, or put into effect in your life?
How are you going to do that?
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Works Cited:
The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed., ver. 3.6a (CD-ROM). Cambridge, MA: SoftKey International Inc., 1994.
Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library
CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.
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Copyrights:
Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2014 Mel W. Coddington, and permission is hereby granted that this document may be
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File name: 1Peter5_7-Lesson.___ (.htm, .doc, .pdf)
Translation used: NIV, quoted or referred to in various places within this document
Source: www.BelieverAssist.com
Updated: January 6, 2017
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