Humble Yourselves Under God's Mighty Hand (1 Peter 5:6)

record pin. All right. Today we are gonna be in Today we're going to be in First Peter 5. Uh we're going to be we're going to stay in verse six, but I'm going to reference another two verses. Um, so, uh, Peter's first book that he writes his letter, and he's really writing this to the to the the early church. Um, which is mostly going to be made up of where Peter's at of of Jews. Um, not all, but some, mostly, I should say. And so, this verse reads, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time." And so we'll pause.

That's verse six. That's first Peter chapter 5 verse 6. Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. And so let's talk about that. Humble yourselves. It's not a request. Humble yourselves is not a request. It's a command. It's not a feeling. It's not a I want to. Uh Peter is giving us a command that we are to humble ourselves. uh that's difficult in today's day and it was difficult then it's probably as difficult maybe even more difficult today to humble yourselves and that's where we'll we'll reference two other verses here in a second and he uses the word therefore and so what Peter is saying here when he uses the word therefore is he's telling you this is not a new command I'm not telling you anything new this is this is old school this is old hat um here's where we're at and and we could look at uh Proverbs B um verses uh chapter 3 and verse 34 where uh Solomon says because God why do we humble ourselves?

Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. That's a very interesting verse for me because that one tells us that God will actively come against you if you're proud. He's not just going to sit back and go, "Well, then he's doing his own thing. I'll leave that guy alone. He's not mine, but ah, he's good over there in the corner. No, God says he opposes the proud. He is actively against those who carry and live with their pride. And so, and so the the the other verse that I'll reference is the very next verse, which is how do we humble ourselves?

It's humbling yourselves is real simple. It's when you give your yourself to someone else. And that's what verse seven talks about. So humble yourselves. A a command, an activity, not a feeling, not a mood, not a maybe when it maybe during this season of life. No, it is a command and it is not a new one. He says under God's mighty hand. The Peter writes this because uh this is Old Testament language. Uh this is the same hand that split the Red Sea. And so when we think about humbling yourselves under God's mighty hand, what what Peter is saying is, why would you do anything else?

Did you not see all that he's done for us? Have you not seen every single miracle that he has performed through the centuries? Have you have have you forgotten what he did for the people and the nation of Israel? Have you seen that? Do you remember that he he he created food every morning in the wilderness for 40 years? They didn't their clothing didn't wear out. And so this is what Peter is saying here. Why should you humble yourself? Because God is creator. Because he is almighty. He is the hand that did that. The hand that that can wipe out the the the opposition is also the hand that can that can save you, that can bring salvation.

And he says that he may lift you up in due time. So all right. So God, you want me to humble myself. Why? Because you've talked about it before. Because you oppose the proud. Why am I going to humble myself to you? Because you are God Almighty. That you may lift me up in due time. What is due time? That is not on the calendar. That is not on the clock. That is for his purpose. In due time. So I'm going to I'm going to take these steps. And God says that in due time he will lift me up. When is that? This is that today? Is that gonna be later today?

Is that next week? Is that next month? Is that five years from now? Is he going to do that when I get into retirement? I don't know. You don't know. The Holy Spirit and God knows. But he's going to lift you up in due time. It's a promise. So, as long as I'm I'm doing these things that God has called and asked me to do, it's not a question of if. It's just a matter of when it's right for you. He is going to lift you up in due time. And that's probably the most difficult part of this verse for all of us. We live in a in a uh in a microwave society.

And and I'm going to steal this from Pastor Daryl at our church, but we have a crock-pot God. So, we want it in 8 seconds. And God says, "I'm going to give it to you when it's good and simmered." And that's probably our biggest challenge in life is that we want it yesterday, not even today. We want we wanted that process to happen yesterday. So reading it again, humble yourselves therefore, not new, God opposes the proud. Uh, Proverbs 3:34. So humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. All right. Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

What about being proud of being a Christian? Oh, you could do that. Yeah. So when when we talk about the pride um uh we're talking about in a in a negative context, right? When pride takes over, when pride when pride pride takes the place of your heavenly father, you could be proud to be a Christ follower. Amen. There's nothing wrong with that. You could be proud of your child. Your child just got it brought home all A's. Oh, heck yeah. I'm proud of that. But that's not taking the place of my creator. That's not putting my pride in front of what God's glory is.

the the real way to praise God my kid got four A's. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. Praise God my kid got Praise God he's given my my child the ability to do well in school. Yeah. That's that's good pride. There's nothing wrong with that. No one will come against that. That's your heart. I just find it uh encouraging. And verse seven, casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. We're all going to have pride at some point and we will need to be humbled and uh we do need to be confirmed that he will come back for us. He will he will cast he will care for us.

And I think that that's important that we understand that we all uh have pieces of pride in us that we've overex exercised. But God does care for us that he will come back. He will he will crockpot his way back into our life. That's that's very nice. Very very well said. I think I think I think you know that for for me personally this is a very strong message for me. Um when I find myself in an easy season in my life, I find myself slipping into pride when everything's going right and then I find myself um being being more humble when things are when things are difficult when I'm asking when I'm asking God.

So that for me the consistency uh has been has always has always been an issue, right? So when things are going good, it's easy for me to slip into my self-ride and oh yeah, you know, pat myself on the back and look at me go wee. And then when things aren't going well, you know, then I I fall into the humble the fall into more being humble when I get checked and knocked down a peg. And that's when God opposes us is when I per I can personally see it in my own life when I start getting a little bit prideful, God will check me. I'm so glad that that uh that all three of you brought up a different perspective because they all three tied together.

And so I I'm going to try and do that real quick. Um we we're we're all gonna, as Todd said, we're we're all going to have those moments in our life. And William just admits to the fact that yes, it's when things are going well that we slip into this. Pride, Clyde, can be very, very slippery. Um, I'm I've never been a guy to beat my chest and stand on the rooftops and go, "Look at what I did and look what I built." That's never been my my prideful downfall. My prideful downfall has come from not giving God the glory for where I was at. And so, the enemy is real clever that way.

And so, we have to be very careful. I I'm so sensitive to it now. Uh as an example, I had a I had a a good friend of mine is a a pastor and uh uh he was in between pastor uh jobs and he needed uh some work and so we we brought him in and we hired him. And when he came in and I gave him the grand tour and he was like, "Man," he goes, "You've just done fantastic. This is so awesome. So happy for you." Blah blah blah blah. And and I I stayed humble, right? I you know, oh, thank you. Yeah, I really appreciate that. You know, that's, you know, blah, blah, blah.

Doing good things, blah, blah. And then when the moment he left, I it dawned on me. I'm like, I didn't give God the honor and the glory for anything of where we were. So, I immediately called him on the phone. I'm like, Jeff, man, I feel convicted. I'm like, I I not one time did I give God the honor and the glory for where we're at. And Jeff just started laughing. And he said, Dwayne, he goes, um, he goes, I've known you for two years. He goes, and I know where your heart is, and so does God. And God knows that. He He knows you you give him the glory for this every chance you get.

Just because you didn't state it to me and he didn't state it, God still knows where your heart's at. So that made me feel a lot better. But it was also a checks and balances for me to remember that where I'm at is not because of anything that I did. It's a thousand% because of what he did. whatever gift and abilities that he gave me, the people he put in in my life, the things that he's allowed me to have, the the tests and the trials he's allowed me to go through to be able to sharpen and tweak and get better at where I'm at. A thousand% him.

And so, we have to be very careful because it is a slippery slope, that pride thing, right? Clyde asked the right question. Can I be proud I'm a Christian? Can I be proud of my daughter? Can I be proud of my son? Can I be proud of my wife? Yeah, you can. That's a that's a that's a that's a that's a proud life. That's not a bad thing. But when you're you're at the other side of that spectrum and you're William and all of a sudden life is going easy and all of a sudden I don't need God. I don't need God as much. And all of a sudden I did these things, man.

I man I can't crush that man. I was I did this thing and I did that thing and all of a sudden eyes start popping in. And the eyes are where the enemy comes in and all of a sudden I don't need God as much. Right? Because I got this thing. I did this thing. And so we have to be very very careful about that. And that's what Todd was talking about is that uh we're we're all going to fall short. We're all going to need his grace. And we all know that eventually if you get prideful and I I challenge everybody, you go look at some area of your life where you lost it, where you you were in a something was taken away from you.

You you you weren't where you are today. I promise if you look three steps back, you see pride. Pride was right there. Pride was the reason why you fell. Pride was the reason why you fell short. And why? Proverbs 3:34. God opposes the prep, but he gives grace to the humble. There you go. All right. 9:29, we went long. Uh, thoughts, comments? Anybody else? 10 seconds. Yes. Uh, I have a comment. Because when things going good, it's not that God stopped talking to you, reaching out to you. you kind of so busy with the good that you're not hearing that God trying to bring bring you back that hey you go in somewhere you're not supposed to calm down and then there comes the the slap on the face when correction is do yeah so when when uh uh guess is going to be a little longer so when William talks about um he gets humble when he gets needy he gets humble when things aren't going well that's when He falls on his knees and he gives that and what Aggie is talking about is that when when things are going good, all right, maybe maybe we're not asking for the thing because God's given it to us.

We got that thing. Now is the time when we have to start doing the gratitude. If you can't think for something to pray for specific in your life, that's when your entire prayer is nothing but God, thank you for where I'm at. Thank you for my health. Thank you for this job. Thank you for the car. Thank you for my friends. Thank you for this church. Thank you for the opportunities you gave me last week to do this thing or that thing. And your prayer is nothing but thanks. And when that happens, then you it forces you to not forget where all of this came from.

It didn't come from you. Came from him. All right, we got to pray it out. Everybody, let's bow our bow our our heads and close our eyes for everyone except for those who are driving. Father, thank you so much for today. Hey Lord, thank you. Um, thank you for your grace first of all that when we do slip up and it's not it isn't it isn't if it's just when when that happens that your grace is renewed. Yes, we know that you oppose the proud but we know that your graces and mercies are renewed every day. And so, Father, we just pray that we get better with that that uh that we don't wait until there's a downfall before we fall on our knees and we get humble and give it to you.

Uh, Father, we pray that we we take that route that Aggie talked about, which is not forgetting where we get where we are, how we got there. Father, that you would continue to give us that that humbleness, that gratitude, that gratefulness when we wake up, when we're in that season of plenty and we're in that season of good and and the trials seem far away and the skies are sunny and the and the storm clouds have all vanished, Father, that we don't forget what how it was we got here. We got here because you carried us through that process. And so Lord, we just thank you for today.

We thank you for those of us that are in that season, Father. And we also thank you for those of us that are that are going through a season right now that are sharpening us and and and honing us and and and building us up, lifting us up for that that time, that due season when when uh when you you'll be there uh for the things that we need uh accomplished in our lives, Father, that you're working through us now. So, Father, just watch over us this day. Guide us. Um, allow us as always, Lord, to just tap into that Holy Spirit. He lives inside of us.

He's there for us. He's there to help us and build us up and correct us and and encourage us and and to lead us through through the day, Father. So, I just pray that we do that. Father, we love you. We praise you. We thank you. And in your son, Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Amen. Amen. Amen, guys. Hallelujah, guys.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly edited for readability.