It really was the perfect picture of anything but rest - of worry, anxiety, frustration. My dear son, Darnay, a few weeks ago, got in his 1995 Jeep Cherokee to drive from Kalispell, Montana, to Macon, Georgia. He got 60 miles into the wilderness of Montana, and his water pump broke. It was able to be fixed and, thinking that he had lived beyond his trouble, he got in his car again and drove about another 45 miles - now deep into the wilderness of Montana - and his radiator just exploded. There is this wonderful picture that someone took of Darnay kneeling before his car, water around him, with his head in his hands.
Head in Your Hands
I would ask you this evening - how many times do you end up with your head in your hands? "Oh no! What am I going to do? What's going to happen now? If only this hadn't happened? What am I going to do?" And it goes on and on. Do you know rest in your life? No, I'm not talking about that sort of "pie-in-the-sky" dreamy hopes and wishes that aren't rooted in anything, but a rest that's rooted in an everyday, street level faith in your Lord. Turn back; I guess it is just to page 7 in your 'Order of Worship' to First Peter, chapter 5, verses 6 through 11 that we just read together.
I am persuaded that the connecting theme of all of these directives , five directives that are in this closing exhortation in this wonderful book written to people who are in the midst of suffering, is rest. What does it look like to live a life of rest? To live rest in difficulty, to live rest in the unexpected, to live rest when you are dealing with things that you wouldn't have chosen to deal with, to live in rest when you're facing opposition, to experience rest when you're facing rejection? What does it look like to actually live a life of rest?
Now I know that you don't live in a perfect world, and I know you're experiencing difficulty. What is the true experience of your heart in those moments? Are you tempted to question God's goodness? Are you tempted to give yourself to sleepless nights when you toss your life over and over again in your mind, hoping somehow you can figure out things that are probably bigger than you? Do you know rest? Well, here's what that looks like. Here's the first thing: know your place. Rest is about knowing your place.
There's a real connection between humility and rest. When I place myself in the center of my universe, when I make it all about me, when I try to manipulate circumstances and relationships to make sure that I get everything that I've decided I need and I want, I am drafting myself into a life of constant worry, and constant anxiety, and constant fear, and constant discouragement, and constant disappointment. Look what he says here: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you."
What does it mean to know your place? What does it mean to humble yourself before God's mighty hand? Let me suggest some things. First of all, it means that you trust the wisdom of Almighty God more than you trust your own; that you really believe that His way is wise; the things that He calls you to are wise and good and true and right. And you humbly believe that this One who knows everything beyond origin and to beyond destiny has told you the things that are necessary for you to know in order to live the way that He's called you to live; you find joy in living in the context of His wisdom.
Do you? Or are there times when you step outside of that wisdom because there's something you want or there's something that you think is better? Second, it means that you rest in His sovereignty. You really believe that your life is not out of control. Oh, it's out of your control, and you will face mysteries in your life that you do not understand; but you really have embraced the truth that there is a God who actually has become your Father by the grace of Christ Jesus, who rules over all things by His power and authority, and that One who rules all things is the definition of what is good and loving and true and wise.
And as it says in Daniel, "No one can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" And you believe further, as it says in Ephesians 1, "That He rules over all things for the sake of his body, the church" - that His rule is benevolent, His rule is loving, His rule is for the sake of His children." And there's a way in which that means I never walk into a relationship or a situation or a circumstance that's out of control. All of those things are under the careful control of my wise Father. Do you have that kind of rest?
Humble Yourselves
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so at the proper time, He may exalt you." Thirdly, you believe that living that kind of humble life, knowing your place, is a life of blessing and reward. It is actually living the way human beings were meant to live. It's living out your full humanity as God created you. You and I were created, not to live an independent life; we were created to live in dependency on God; and when I live that way, I'm living according to the order of the universe and according to the plan of God, and that way brings reward and blessing.
And ultimately, we know that means we will be exalted. There is some day that we will reign with Him. Brothers and sisters, it is actually true: "The meek will inherit the earth." Do you believe that? And when you live that humble life, you are moving with the move of the universe; you're living consistently with God's will and God's plan, and that is a pathway, a blessing. Second directive: rest in God's care. "Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." What are the things in your life that give you cause for worry, for concern, for fear, for anxiety?
Have you, as an act of faith, put those cares in the hands of the Lord? I don't think there is any more stunning miracle of grace than that a holy God would invite people such as us, to cast our cares on Him because He really does care for us! Do you believe that your Lord cares for you? He cares about your concerns; He cares about your responsibilities; He cares about your opportunities; He cares about the situations and locations in which you live; He cares about your relationships; He cares about your temptations; He cares about your weaknesses.
Your Lord cares for you! He cares for you! He cares for you! He cares for you! He cares for you! I don't think I can say that enough. And maybe the dark secret of the church is how much fear and anxiety there is in us, that paralyzes us, and that discourages us, and that stops us, and that robs us of courage, and robs us of hope, and robs us from being the kind of army of transformation that we should be because we're spending all of our time making sure that we're taking care of, and we have little time to think about the massive needs that are outside of us.
I think there's a direct connection between effective evangelism and trust, between ministry and trust, because I'm free now to take all of my concerns and cares off me, and I'm free to open my eyes to the world that is around me. If we're ever going to make an impact on the broken city in which we live, we must be people who have placed our cares in the hands of our Lord; and because of that, we can give our hearts to something more than just us. We give our hearts to all the needs that are around us--they're everywhere.
You know, you can walk through this city and see nothing because you're in your own brain, and you're casting your own life back and forth in your mind. You might as well be blind. I have bumped into things, I'm so in my thoughts. This morning, I walked into the building and I was deep in thought - I don't remember about what - and someone approached me (I didn't realize this was happening.) and they said, "Hello." I didn't respond. They moved 6 feet and said, "Hello." I didn't respond. They passed by me, yelled, "Hello!"
I finally woke up, and they announced to me that was the third time they had said that. Do you spend your waking energies entrapped in that little world of personal concern, or do you really believe your Lord cares-do you? Third directive: take life seriously, "Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Sober mindedness is thinking your way through life, being careful about the way you think. It really is about thinking about life from the vantage point of the wisdom of Scripture so that my belief system is not out here someplace, but my belief system is a lens that gives me a careful and accurate, serious approach to living.
The Idolatry of Pleasure
What's the big idolatry of America? It's pleasure! We live in a silly society that doesn't take life seriously. We spend masses of money on things that make no difference whatsoever. In the pursuit of pleasure, we make stupid decisions that get us into horrible debt. We allow ourselves to be controlled by physical things till we're addicted. In the pursuit of pleasure, we eat ourselves into ill health. If you look around at Western culture, it's a picture of a culture that's not taking life seriously, and we need to stand against the influence of that culture.
Do you really take life seriously? Are you watchful? Watchful for what? Well, the passage says, "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Here's why we are serious: because we believe in evil! We believe in personal evil. We believe there really is a devil who is out to divide and destroy and devour. We believe that. And we believe the stakes are high. We don't believe we live in a neutral world. We believe we live in a moral world where there's moral right and moral wrong.
We live in a world where you will not go out of your house without facing temptation--you face it hundreds of times every day whether you realize it or not. And there's an enemy of our souls. You can't read these words without having a bit of a chill go down your spine. What a picture: "The devil is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." This summer, Luella and I watched a series on television called "Into the Pride." It was the account of a man who actually lived with a pride of lions. Don't try this at home!
And there was one remarkable moment; there was the dominant male lion, huge lion, he was named Brutus (he probably didn't know that). And he ruled that pride of lions, but he was getting old, and his dominance was seen in everything he did--except one afternoon as he arose from rest, he limped away. There was a rising male lion who saw that weakness, and the minute he saw that weakness, he hit him like lightning; brought him down to the ground, brutally injured him, and took over the pride. That's your enemy.
Looking for your weakness, looking for those places where you are susceptible to temptation, where you're making unwise decisions, where you're exposing yourself to things that you should not expose yourself to, where you're living unwisely. There is a roaring lion seeking to devour. Do you live seriously? Do you live watchfully? Fourth thing: resist him no matter what. "Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
This is a very interesting verse, because this resistance of the enemy is put into the context of suffering. We all know that times of suffering are very often times of moral and spiritual vulnerability. When you're suffering, you're tempted to get angry; you're tempted to doubt God; you're tempted to envy other people; you're tempted to question the things that you've believed; you're tempted to be irritable and unkind and unloving; you're tempted to be proud, wanting the world to sort of dance around you.
Standing Firm and Suffering
And so it's interesting that Peter connects standing firm with suffering. But then he does something very, very wise; again showing pastoral wisdom. "Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world." What is one of Satan's most regular, tempting, seductive lies? It's this: that you're alone in your experience, that somehow, some way, everybody else's life is easy, and you've been singled out for particular suffering.
And what follows that is, "Where is your God now? Why isn't He loving you like He's loving everybody else? Why isn't He being faithful to you like He's faithful to everyone else? Where is the grace that He's giving everyone else? Why aren't you experiencing it?" And Peter says, "Don't you understand the things that you're suffering are universal experiences?" If you live in a fallen world, somehow, someway, suffering will enter your door. If you stand for Christ in a culture that has rejected Him, somehow, suffering will be part of your experience.
You haven't been singled out for particular suffering. Your experience is the same experience of all of God's children; and in saying that, he's protecting his readers from the temptation to listen to an evil lie of the enemy. And then the final directive: trust God's sanctifying grace. "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." Hear this: your Lord will not turn from His grace.
Suffering will not stop His transforming hand. Circumstances will not get in the way of His work to redeem. He will finish that work. And He will restore. He will confirm. He will strengthen. He will establish. His grace is sure, and He will not relent until His work is completely done in the hearts of all of His people. It's right that this kind of passage should end in a doxology: "To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen." What is it that Peter is saying? Here's what he is saying: even though you are facing hard things, even though you don't understand your circumstances, even though you will face mysteries in your life, even though you will find yourself in places you didn't want to be, even though you will experience misunderstanding and rejection, your Lord rules.
He really does! And He rules for your sake; and in that reality, there is hope. How do you live that out? Well, you know your place. You place your cares in His hands. You take life seriously. You resist no matter what, and you believe that His work of grace will be accomplished in your heart. Because of that, you can get up in the morning even though you're facing tough things, and you can have rest in your heart, and you can live with courage and hope. You can sleep at night even though there are things going on in your life that are bigger than you because your hope isn't in your control; it isn't in your power; it isn't in your righteousness; it isn't in your strength; it isn't in your wisdom.
It's one place: in Him, and His is the domain. Do you know that? Is that your experience? Your Savior lived and suffered and died to purchase for His people a Sabbath of rest. Do you know that rest? Let's Pray: Lord, how thankful we are that dominion belongs to You; that we have been invited into Your family; and so we're the objects of Your sovereign care; and so we don't have to worry about our own control, and our own power, and our own strength. We don't have to panic when we're beyond the bounds of our wisdom, beyond the bounds of our ability to think things through or to control circumstances--because we know that You are in us; and You are with us; and You are for us; that our Savior is a sovereign Savior.
And we know that as we take life seriously and as we resist the enemy, You empower us by Your grace; You protect us in Your love; You guard us by Your wisdom. And through all of those experiences, Your sanctifying grace is at work; it's restoring us; it's confirming us; it's establishing us; it's forming in us the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we know the rest of Your grace. In Jesus's name, Amen.
