Thriving Under Pressure | 1 Peter 5:6-14

Well, I have a confession to make. I've never actually shared this confession in a message before. It's the first time ever. But I love watching cooking shows. Is anyone else with me? Okay, that's only this side, I guess. Anyone else from this side love watching cooking shows? Yeah, quite a few people. I don't watch a lot of TV in general, but when I do, I'm very picky. I watch a lot of, you know, I watch sports or else we do cooking shows at home. In fact, our family has recently gotten into this show called Is it Cake? I guess some of them do know it. It's a ridiculous concept really. You know, contestants, they make cakes that look like everyday objects and a panel has to figure out which one is actually cake. So here we are, me, my wife, couple of kids, we're like looking, oh, that's cake. That shoe is a cake, or this, you know, this scissors. It's just weird, random stuff, but it's fun. But my affinity with cooking shows goes back. It's almost nostalgic to say the least because I remember as a 10 year old, 11 year old, you know, before the TVs in India, with my siblings, my aunts and even my mom, we were watching Master Chef Australia. So every night that was a thing that we did together. I think it was at 8pm every night. So we knew what time it was. So we all gathered and we were just so into this show. And there was, there's a few things that I loved about watching this show. One was I was introduced to dishes from all over the world that I would never have grown up in India, you know, in my part of the world, all that I know is Indian cuisine, Indian food. So here I'm learning about food in France, in Italy and Thailand, all over burgers, United States, I guess. And it was just incredible to see how you give a few of these ingredients to these contestants and they whip up these magical looking, incredible looking foods, right? And I also liked how I thought it made me feel a little sophisticated, knowing words like foie gras, creme brulee confit, all of these French words that I would never get to know. But the thing that cracked me up about these shows was just the pressure of completing that challenge. Everything goes great. Contestants are given the challenge, they are into it, everything's going fine. And then the five minute countdown timer begins. We've got five minutes left. And it almost seems as though the plotline is predictable because the intensity of the music grows. And now these contestants, some of them are trying to figure out what to do. They're, like scurrying all over the kitchen, trying to get some ingredients just to complete. And then there's invariably one person who makes the mistake with the plating. And now it's all destroyed, and so they don't know what to do. There's just so much chaos and pressure going on. And then time's up. And then you look at their plates, everything looks incredible. I'm like, how did you get that done in two minutes? Those last five minutes were our absolute chaos. And life often feels like those last five minutes, right? There's always something demanding our attention. A deadline to meet, a bill to pay, a child to take care of, a health concern, to figure out a decision to make. And just when you think you've handled something, it doesn't end. You're hit with something else. And unlike MasterChef Australia, where the clock stops, you're done. You know, if the pressure stops, life isn't like that. The pressures keep coming. We can't just simply quit our jobs, avoid every problem, every challenge. Pressure is a part of life. So that begs the question, how do we remain faithful? How do we remain steadfast? How do we keep moving forward when life feels overwhelming? More importantly, it's not just about survival. How do we thrive under pressure and experience the abundant life that God has for each of us? The title of my message today is Thriving Under Pressure. And we're going to look at four truths that anchor us, anchor our faith. In fact, when pressure mounts. And the audience that Peter is writing to in First Peter, they know what pressure feels like. Their decision to follow Jesus has created all sorts of challenges in their lives. These guys were persecuted, mistreated for their faith. They were falsely accused, ridiculed, marginalized in their own communities, and some of them were scattered. So they're not even in their own communities, or so they're under intense pressure just because of their decision to follow Jesus. Their faith was costing them something. And Peter is writing to them right at the end of that letter, and he goes, hey, here's. Here are a few things that I want to leave with you before I'm done with this letter. And we're going to look at that really quickly today. So four truths to hold on to when life gets hard. Before we get into that, I want to read the whole passage, and then we'll break it down together. So this is first Peter, chapter 5, verses 6 to the end of the book. So it goes. If you can follow along either in your Bibles or up there on your screen. It says, humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober minded. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being exposed, experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 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. What an awesome promise. Because to him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. By Silvanus, a faithful brother, as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are Christ. So four truths to hold on to when life gets hard. Number one, stay humble. Trust the one who is actually in charge. I want to go back to that passage, but we're going to look at a few verses before that. Chapter 5, verse 5. Towards the end of it, it says, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you. So Peter comes to the end of this letter. He's writing to these Christians who are under persecution. They're going through suffering. Life is not easy for them. And he says, this is the bottom line. Stay humble. Trust the one who's actually in charge. And I love the imagery that he uses. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility. He talks about humility like a garment that we put on. So, I mean, that's something that we can all relate to, right? Every morning when we wake up, we gotta wear something. And a lot of us, we get to decide, you know, even before we go to bed, we're thinking about what we want to wear, right? I wish, you know, being. This is one of the perks of being married, I guess. Every time I wear something and then I come out, my wife goes, what is that? She goes, let me dress you up. So she tastes. And even today, like, I had this. And then a blue shoe. She goes, that doesn't work. I go, looks great. I mean, it works to me. She's like, no, you're wearing this brown shoe, right? But there's an intentional choice. We put a lot of effort into clothing ourselves. And humility is compared to that. Peter is saying, hey, clothe yourself with humility. Be intentional about wearing the cloak of humility. Humility. And there's a couple of dimensions to this humility. First he says, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. A lot of times when we're under stress, when we're under pressure. Sociologists call this default culture, where whatever we're used to, the behaviors, the patterns, the sinful patterns, the habits that we have in terms of what we gravitate to, it comes out right. So you don't know a person until you've seen them under pressure because you go, whoa, I thought they were a nice person, what's going on? But everything that's inside comes to the surface. When we're under pressure, it's hard to be humble. And Peter's saying, well, I know you're going through suffering, I know you're going through pain, I know you're going through persecution, but that's when you got to stay humble towards one another. And then in verse six, it goes, humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God. So there's not just a horizontal dimension to humility, but there's a vertical dimension to humility as well, where we humble ourselves before God. And humility, there's so many ways of describing it, but I think the thing that makes sense to me, at least the way I conceive it, is humility is viewing ourselves rightly or seeing ourselves the way God sees us, seeing ourselves in relation to God, who we are in relation to who God is and who we are in relation to others. And sometimes that could get mixed up. Our daughter is five years old now, and she is a typical firstborn. Strong personality, determined, rebellious, always wants her way, a natural leader. And I won't forget this one instance that we had. This was about two and a half years ago. I come home after work. So Shears, a two and a half year old, has just started to talk. She's fluent now in speaking. And then my wife is arguing with a two and a half year old, right? Imagine even just that scenario of adults. I do that as well. So it's not just her arguing with a two and a half year old. And I just come in after work and then I've seen them reasoning with each other. And then my daughter goes straight up to mom, holds her hand, takes her to the room, and Katie obliges. And so she goes to the room, shuts the room and goes, mom, you were disobedient. You need a timeout. What audacity for a 2 and a half year old to put your mom in timeout. Never works out right. You know, we were just playing along, so we kind of laughed at each other. But it's easy to get our roles mixed up. Who's the parent here? In this case, who's the child? And now she's got a younger brother to do that. Sometimes we feel. We know, we feel sad for our second son because it feels like he's got three parents instead of two, because my daughter is always bossing over him. Humility is seeing ourselves rightly looking at God and going, God, you are the creator. You are the Lord of our lives. And you know what? Sometimes when we have these roles messed up, it can be really dangerous. Last month, we were in India. We were coming back. Our flight got delayed, and so we had an extended layover in Abu Dhabi. So, I mean, we had fun. The airline put us in a great hotel. Free food, everything was full. There was a rooftop pool as well. And as you know, my family, not me, but my family would not miss a chance to use that pool. So we all went up there. And so I had planned. I had a book with me, so I was gonna, like, be under the pool umbrella while my wife and the two kids were in there. So even as I'm taking the kids up, Roshni, my daughter, she's like, I wanna go in. I wanna jump in. We're like, roshni, it's not safe. Let's do this together. When Mommy gets here, you're gonna do that? She's like, no, I know. I want to do this by myself. Well, you don't know to swim yet. She's like, no, I know how to swim. Well, swimming with floaties with an adult around is very different from you doing it alone. She's like, no, I know how to swim. But obviously we didn't let her. So I just, like. She was protesting and rebelling. We held her hand. I held her hand, waited until Mommy got into the pool, and then she gets into the pool, Katie's there. And then after about two minutes, Katie's like, hey, I forgot one thing. Would you be able to go down and get something? So while we were talking, it was literally three seconds, and here she is. She had just waded into, like, the deep end of the pool. And so she was, like, struggling to get up. And so it was just three seconds. So thankfully we were right there. So we were able to, like, get her out. We can be like that sometimes, right? Well, when we think, oh, man, I've got this all figured out. I know what I'm doing. When God says, well, I'm the one who's actually in charge, I'd love to do this for you. And then we just take our eyes off of God, and then the next thing we know, we're sinking. God's gotta rescue us. Humility is thinking rightly about ourselves, knowing who we are in relation to God. God wants us to stay humble. There's a couple of motivations to that. If you're not convinced why we've got to be humble, can go back to that verse again. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. Why? It says, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I don't know about you. I don't want to be opposed by God. Imagine, think of yourselves in a boxing match and someone's way beyond above your weight class, you're going to get knocked out. God saying, well, if you're humble, happy to give you grace. If you're not, I'll be opposing you. That's scary. But then here's the positive. It says, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so at the proper time, he may exalt you. Throughout Scripture, God's mighty hand is a picture of his power, his authority, his sovereignty. It's the same hand that delivered Israel from Egypt. It's the same hand that split the waters of the Red Sea, the hand that rules over the nations, the hand that no one can resist. One of my favorite verses is in Job 42:2, where at the end of all of Job's ordeal, Job comes to this recognition where he says, God, I know you can do all things and no purpose of yours. There's nothing that you decide to do can be thwarted. No purpose of yours can be thwarted. That's the mighty hand of God, the power that God has. And he says, hey, humble yourselves under my mighty hand so that at the proper time I will exalt you. What more do we need? Stay humble. Trust the one who. Who's actually in charge. Secondly, give God your worries because the God who rules over all cares for you. Verse 7 is a continuation of the last verse, says, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. There is a direct connection between humility and anxiety. A direct correlation between humility and anxiety. In fact, in this passage, this is not a command. This is not a separate sentence. It's a continuation of just the verses that we discussed about humility. So even as I was prepping for this message, I go, should I make this a separate point? Or should I just include it with the last one? Because that's how it's meant to. And I go, you know what? It's good to really highlight the focus of this. So I made it a separate point. Give God your worries. The God who rules over all cares for you. A direct relation between humility and anxiety. When we give up our worries to God, when we let God know. God, you are the sovereign God of heaven and earth. I want to humble myself before you. I want you to lead my life, giving you my worries as well. So if you're humble, we go, God, you take it. You deal with it. I know you are powerful. I'm not. You've got the power to change circumstances and situations. I don't. But if you're not humble, you know what we try to do? We're like, we want to take control. We want to have power. We want to have authority. We want to fix things ourselves. And we invariably tend to mess it up. Casting our anxieties on God is an expression of humility. And control is a really funny thing, because as much as we think that we are in control, we're not. It's just an illusion. A couple of months ago, I got into a lot of, you know about this. I got into a pretty bad accident. T‑boned by a driver who ran a red light. My car was completely totaled. Thank God nothing happened to me. But the thing that bothered me most about that accident was this. You know, driving is usually very therapeutic for me. So I love to drive, love to go on road trips, because I'm just so focused, just thinking, and I just feel like I'm in control. In fact, it's hard for me not to drive. I'm like the worst backseat driver. My wife goes, you know what? I am never driving when you're in the car because you make me nervous. So I'm like, sorry. I like to be in control. Sorry. Right? So I try to drive as much as possible. And the thing that really bothered me about this accident was I did everything right. There's a green light coming out of the expressway, turning left. The green was for me, turned left. I didn't even see the person come. Boom. And then I think to myself. I mean, this was the first Sunday again, God's hand was so over it, because this was the first Sunday in about six months that I didn't have my family with me. And the impact was exactly where my daughter would have been, where her car seat was. It's hard to imagine what would have happened. And I go, I did everything right, and I still could have lost my life. As much as I think I'm in control while driving, holding on to the steering wheel and trying to be on top of things, at the end of the day, it's not in my hands. When we're humble, when we understand who we are in relation to what God is, we go, God, you're the author of my life. I want to give it back to you. I don't want to carry these burdens. You know what? Our anxieties actually give us a peek into what we value, the issues that we struggle with, the areas that we don't have control but badly want to control, right? So our worries, our anxieties reveal where our treasures are in some ways. If our greatest treasure is money, we're always worried about our finances. If our greatest treasure or if you worry about success, the flip side is we fear failure. If our greatest treasure is approval, we want everyone to like us, then we're controlled by other people's opinions. And God says, Peter here says, cast your cares upon Jesus, upon God. And if you're not convinced, you go, Peter, you don't know what I'm going through. I don't know if I want to do this. Well, let me read to you the words of Jesus himself. It's not going to be on your screen. Matthew, chapter six. Because Jesus talks about this. In fact, Jesus talks about treasure. Where our heart is is where the treasure is, is where our heart is. And then he goes on to a discussion on anxiety in Matthew, chapter six. Not going to read all of it, but just a few excerpts here. Matthew 6:25. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, about what you will eat, what you will drink, not about your body, what you will put on. He goes, is not life more than food and body more than clothing? Jesus says, don't worry about your job, what you're going to eat. Life is more than that. He goes, look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? He goes, and which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And then he goes on, verse 31. Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles, referring to people who don't know God, don't have a relationship with God. The Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Words straight from the mouth of Jesus. Not to be anxious about our lives because God is in control. I love this verse again, verse seven. Cast all your cares on him. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you. Think about that. The God, the same God who holds the universe together is attentive to the things that keep you awake at night. The same God who created the heavens and the earth is intricately concerned about your worries, your anxieties, your fears. And he's saying, you know what? I want to carry that burden for you. I don't want you to. Would you cast your cares on me? Would you allow me to carry your burdens? A lot of us were, all of me, I would say, venture to say all of us, including me. A lot of times we try to carry our anxieties, burdens, our worries. What if we make a paradigm shift in how we deal with our worries? Because we're gonna get these thoughts, the pressures of life is gonna be constant, right? So the next time there's something that's. There's a mountain, there's an obstacle facing you, what if we go, God, I want to cast. Could you carry this burden and help me figure this out as opposed to dealing with this on my own? And I want to give you a pastoral tip here. This is where music and worship is so helpful. A lot of times, you know, we just think we just sing songs just as a precursor to the message, and then it doesn't mean a lot to us. But even as a kid, one of the things my parents taught me, I grew up in a pastor's household as well. They were like, hey, if you're having a hard day, the best thing that you can do is to go and listen to a song, your favorite Christian song. Focus on the words, focus on the lyrics. Because what it does is it engages in the affective level, in the level of the emotions, where you're now starting to speak truth to your soul that is downcast, which is literally what the Book of Psalms is all about, right? He talks about anxieties, worries, cares. And he goes, oh, my soul, why are you so downcast? Put your hope in God. So the next time you feel anxious or worried, you know, if you are a singer, if you like to sing, sing your favorite worship song. If not, just listen to songs. And I can guarantee this is not a magic or whatever. All I can say is because you put your focus on the theology behind these songs, words that focus on the goodness, the greatness of who God is, that ministers to our soul, right? Give God your worries. The God who rules over all cares for you. Number three, stand firm. There is an enemy who wants to take you down. Verse 8 says, Be sober minded, be watchful. In other words, be clear headed, be mentally alert, be spiritually aware as to what is going on. And he goes, this is what's going on. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. So Peter is saying, stand steadfast because you know the battle that you're facing, there's something deeper to it. Part of the challenge is we don't often give much thought to spiritual warfare because we can see the unseen world. It's not something that you can feel, touch, experience. We can see financial pressure, we can see conflict in relationships. We can see suffering, disappointment, temptation, hardships. But behind what is visible is the spiritual reality that is often invisible, that there is an enemy at work trying to derail your life, all in an effort to pull you away from God. There is nothing that the devil wouldn't do to create a distance between you and God. And often that's the case with trials and temptations. Right, with trials, when we go through suffering, often there's a couple of responses that we can have. The first one is we go, God, why did you do this to me? I can't be going through this. If you are alive, if you are a good God, you would not do this to me. And what do we do? Slowly move away from God. The second one is, goes God. I don't know what's going on. I just can't do this on my own. There's no way I can move forward. Could you please help me? Let me hold on to you and bring us to God. And here, the devil, our adversary. Look at the imagery. It's like a roaring lion. Like even the description, the Devil's not a coyote that's just hanging out. A lion that destroys, seeks to destroy its prey. That's what the devil is trying to do to us. Peter is saying, you know what Peter is saying. He's not saying be afraid of the devil. He's not saying obsess over the devil, run away from the devil. What does he say in verse nine? He says, resist him. Firm in your faith. Stand firm in your faith. Hold on to the promises that God has given you. Hold on to God's word through troubling and trying circumstances, and you're going to overcome the evil one. And then he gives a couple of other motivations why you got to resist your faith. He goes, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by a brotherhood throughout the world. This is such a pragmatic perspective. I love it. Because he says, hey, you know what? You're going through trials, you're going through sufferings, and you might think you're the only one who's going through that. Guess what? There's a whole brotherhood, sisterhood of believers who are going through trials and sufferings, and they are standing firm in their faith. And you can too. And this is the proceed. This is so practical because I think to myself, just the life, you know, having traveled a little bit into really a lot of these mission posts where they don't have access to basic facilities. They got to walk a couple of miles just to even use the restroom. There's no drinking water, no electricity. And then here, these guys don't have any of the comforts that we have. But to see them hold on to God, I go, wow, would I do that? And then you look at our brothers who are going through the suffering, and you go, you know what? If they can do it? God wants me to hold on, to resist the devil and stand firm in my faith. And then here's the reward. Verse 10. 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. The reason why we can stand firm when we're being tempted by the devil is the hope of what our God of all grace will do. By his grace, it says, he will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. So I don't know what you guys are going through if you're going through a hard season, hold on, resist the devil. Don't fall into his temptations to take you away from God, because God himself will come through and vindicate you. He will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Stand firm knowing that there's an enemy who wants to take you down. Finally, don't go alone. God's sustaining grace often comes through his people. This is right at the end of his letter, Peter goes by Silvanus, a faithful brother, as I regard him. I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God, stand firm in it. So he ends by saying, this is the grace of God, is what is going to sustain you. And that's what I've written to you about. So stand firm in it. And so after reminding that, he immediately points them to God's word, people. So this is. He greets, he says, by Silvanus, I've written this to you, exhorting. And then he goes, she who is at Babylon, she referring to the church that is in Rome, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark. So he refers to people from where he's writing from. He says, they send you greetings. But I love this phrase because greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. So he just doesn't stop there with greetings from where he's writing from. He says, hey, you greet one another. You have familial affection. You know, in their culture, this kiss of love is an expression of genuine affection, care, family, like love. And a lot of cultures even do that today we don't do that here, praise God. So please don't greet me with a kiss of love. But if we were to apply this into our context, hug each other, greet each other, treat one another as family, and there is comfort. There is something powerful about the church being together and being the family of God that it is. And that's one of my dreams for 180. I want 180 to be a place like no other, where we're not. That's why we're so intentional about having our wit way or who in the world are you? Time. Because we're like that part of service is as important as the rest because we're engaging with the family God. We want to be there for each other. We want you to be there for each other. We want to really reflect what even Jesus said in Mark 3 where he says where his mother, his brothers and sisters, they're there to greet Jesus. And so someone comes and tells Jesus, Jesus, your family is here. And you know, in the Eastern culture, even in India, our identity is not defined by who we are as an individual accomplishments. Our success, though, it's changing now because of the world that we live in. Our identity is usually derived from what family you belong to, shame and honor cultures. And so it was huge to be part of, to be identified with a family. And Jesus goes, you know what? I'm reconceptualizing what it means to be a family. He says, do you know who my real family is? Because those who do the will of God, those who do the will of my Father in heaven, they are my mother and brothers and sisters. Jesus saying, even more important than my blood, family is the family of God. And a lot of times church is just church, right? It's not family. We just attend and then we're out. But what if. Dream with me. What if 180 becomes a community where we treat each other like real family? That's the kind of revolution we need, right? And I want to give you just a couple of thoughts in regards to that. Pastor Carl writes about this in his book Choose Friends. He says, be the friend that you want to choose, right? A lot of times we come into church, we're so focused on ourselves that we're waiting for the other person to come to us. But what if we switch that mentality and go, you know what? Instead of me waiting, I want to put that step out there. I want to greet someone. I want to, like, get to know someone. I want to see. I want to build those relationships. Tell you, there's. There's some incredible people. There's everyone. One of you, you guys are incredible people. And this is my family. Literally. I don't. My physical family is 8,000 miles away. I have no relatives in the Chicagoland area. So all I have is you guys. And you live up to that. What if we do that for each other? Because you don't have to go through life alone. You don't have to go through trials and persecution, suffering. Whatever you're going through, you don't have to go through alone. So if you're walking through a difficult season, let people in, let others pray for you. Let others encourage you and walk alongside you. And if you're gone, if life is great for you, you know what? There's always someone else who's struggling. So don't forget them, text them, pray for them. Your phone calls, your prayers, your encouragement or your presence might be what God uses to bring breakthrough in their lives. God can use us in that manner. So thriving under pressure. Four truths to anchor us that we saw. Stay humble. Give your worries to God. Stand firm. Don't go alone. We're going to spend some time applying this today. We call it why in the road here? Because there's just two options that you guys, we all have, including me. We could hear God's word. Forget it. Do nothing about it. Nothing changes about our lives. We're still in, try to be in control, carry all of the weights and burdens that God wants to have, and see no real transformation in our lives. Or we could go, you know what? This is what I've learned today. This is what God has shown me and I want to really apply this in my life and I want to see lasting transformation. What is it that we're going to choose today? What we're going to do over the next three to four minutes is we're going to reflect on just a few questions in regards to the sermon. I want you to take some time. This is between you and God. There's just going to be some light music that's going to be played. But over the next few minutes, if there's something that you are going through, a burden, a trial, I'd love for you to entrust your burden to God today. God wants you to thrive even under the stresses that you are facing today. He wants to be with you. So I want you to just analyze Are you trying to control this situation, this burden that you can think of, or are you entrusting it to the God who cares for you? And then what fears or lies? What are shaping my response and what truth do I need to stand on from this message? Does God want you to be humble? Does God want you to trust the one who's actually in control? Does God want you to give your worries to him? Does he want you to stand firm because there's a temptation to take you away from the faith or from God? Or does God want you to lean into the community that he's placed you in? Then I want you to picture yourself placing this burden into God's hands. Speak honestly with him about your fears and anxieties, then release it from your hands and entrust into his care. And if you're one of those people who goes, you know what? I can't think of any burden. I think I'm going through a good season. You know what? I'd love for you to extend God's grace to others. Who around you needs to experience God's sustaining grace through my encouragement this week? Ask God to point you to a person that you can call, you can text, can maybe grab a coffee with, and help them, encourage them in their faith. Right? So we're going to spend a few minutes, I'm going to pray for us, and then a good three to four minutes of you doing business with God. We're going to have the slide up there. Let's reflect on this. God, thank you. Thank you for your word. Thank you that you want us to experience the abundant life not just during the good times, but even during the hard times. Father God, I pray even as we take the step of obedience to apply your word. Would you please even help us to reflect on this. Bring to our hearts, bring to our minds things in our lives that we need to give you control. The burdens that we carry, the anxieties that we deal with on a day to day basis. God, would you quicken our hearts today. Remind us so we can entrust that to your hands. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.