Exalted By God
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. I Peter 5:5-7 (KJV)
As we humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, He will lift us up. Exalt God, and God will exalt you. We exalt God when we humble ourselves under His hand, showing Him that we rely on Him and not on ourselves for promotion and recognition. A prideful person will try to exalt himself, but the humble person prefers that God exalt him. When we don’t let God to take care of things and exalt us, we get full of care and anxiety.
We are to submit to each other by being clothed with humility, or putting on an attitude of humility in our hearts and minds. God resists, or opposes, the proud. That’s quite a strong statement, isn’t it? God actually opposes those who are prideful. We can go nowhere when God stands in the way. He does it to protect us so we don’t crash and burn. Pride is a destructive and damaging force, and God loves us enough to block our path if we give in to it..
On the other hand, as we are humble, God gives us grace to help us remain humble. When we exalt God instead of ourselves, we can be promoted in due time- at God’s perfect time. He will exalt us when we are ready and when the promotion fits with what God has for us.
While we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, He can and will lift us up. We cast our cares and anxieties on Him and refuse to take them back or try to make things happen on our own. As we do, we can rest, trust, and wait on God to exalt us. The humble don’t have a care about things because they know God’s got them. As we cast our cares on the Lord, He goes to work in us and for us to make things happen that only He can. As we continue in humility, even when God exalts us, He will keep us completely in His care. The humble have no cares because they have given them away to God. Rest in God, trust God, and let God bring you to the place of exaltation.
