In the middle of these passages about
fiery ordeals and insults and roaring lions on the prowl is the passage that
makes standing firm possible. “Cast all your anxieties on God who cares for
you.” The ability to “cast” depends on trusting that God cares for us despite all
that tends to increase anxiety. For Peter’s people it was organized persecution
intent on stamping out the followers of the crucified and now reportedly
resurrected Jewish rebel. Our anxieties are not produced by persecution but
that doesn’t mean we do not experience them as fiery ordeals or roaring lions.
Relationships gone sour, jobs lost or threatened, more bills than income at the
end of the month, cells that rebel and multiply, fears without and within, all
of it produces anxiety that steals our sleep and colors our world in shades of
gray until we despair of life itself. To lay the blame on lack of faith merely adds
to the anxious list which is why Peter reminds his people that “the family of
believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” We are
in this thing together. Anxiety is diminished when it is shared as casting
cares on God is a communal exercise.
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