After speaking on God’s sovereignty at a Christian school, a math teacher handed me a note. It said some thing like this: “God takes care of the big things; the little things take care of them selves.” That’s not much consolation in the midst of my anxieties.

Peter ties God’s sovereignty to our anxiety. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that lie may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). Here are a few thoughts from this text.

God’s mighty hand is 1-us sovereign hand. God is in absolute control of His universe. Not one molecule of water or air rebels against Film. God has dominion; you do not, stoic displays of determination to impose your will not with standing. The question is simple. Do you acquiesce to God’s sovereignty over all things?

Peter suggests the avenue. Humble yourselves; literally, be humbled. Ultimately, the circumstances of life are out of our control. Scripture is sometimes stark. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). We live in a fallen world. Disease, distress, discomfort are not unexpected. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you” (1 Pet. 4:12). There are many challenges to our stance as Christians. “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Such circumstances humble us.

This humbling brings recognition of our need to pray. On one hand, in prayer, we seek God’s grace to be righteously submissive to Him. The third petition of the Lord’s Prayer is our ex ample and pattern. “In the third petition (which is, Thy will be clone in earth, as it is in heaven) we pray, That God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Answer 103).

On the other hand, because God governs all and we do not, Peter calls us to express humility and submissiveness by casting our worry and unwarranted concern upon God. This prayer necessarily includes every conceivable worry. See Matthew 6:25, 27, 34; Matthew 10:19-20; and 2 Corinthians 7:32. It includes anxiety over food, clothing, presentations, shelter, transportation, relationships, employment; you name it. We must cast worry over these matters on God like dirty clothes.

But catch a significant distinction. We do not cease to work, strive, and labor. We do not cast away our responsibilities. Rather, we cast our worry about various situations upon God. We do so because the Sovereign Lord superintends all, guides all, and causes good to emerge from every circumstance. We can trust Him.

The idea of casting or throwing does have to do with clothing. When .Jesus entered Jerusalem, the disciples took off their coats and threw them on the colt Jesus was to ride (Luke 19:35). The picture is similar to that of the scapegoat in the Old Testament. The priest placed his hands on the head of the goat and confessed the sins of the people (Lev. 19:20-22). The goat, carrying those sins, was then led out into the wilderness away from the people.

God places our sins on Christ. Anxiety is sin. Since our sins are already imputed to Christ, our anxieties are also, in principle, already on Him. We experience release from anxieties through prayer as we experience release from other sin. We experience release from our anxieties through prayer, casting our anxieties on Christ.