"He Cares About You"

Read: 1 Peter 5:6-10

Reflect: Early Christians faced hostility, ostracism and often persecution. They might be beaten, imprisoned or even executed. Peter wrote a stirring call to those people. As they lived in conditions guaranteed to make people anxious, he urged them to bring all their anxieties to God in trusting prayer. Peter and those early Christians looked beyond the boundaries of this life. They trusted that all earthly struggles are only “for a little while,” while God’s restoration of us to the kind of life humans are meant to live is an eternal reality.

​• What does it mean for you to cast all your anxiety on God? In what ways have you learned to trust that God cares for you? In what parts of life, if any, is it still hard for you to trust that? Read John 21:15-19 to see why Peter could say with such confidence that God will restore you, and make you steadfast, strong and firm. Are there failures from which you want God to restore you? Are there areas in which you wish to be more steadfast or strong? Ask God in prayer to work with you to make restoration and strength a reality for you in 2019.

Pray: Lord Jesus, keep me clear-headed, keep me alert. Let me use those qualities to let you carry my anxieties, rather than trying to carry them myself. Amen.

Family Activity: For this activity, you will need a Bible, a sheet of blank wrapping paper or newsprint to cover a doorway in your home, a marker and some tape. Gather together and have someone read Isaiah 41:10 aloud. Discuss why at times it is difficult to be brave, strong and full of faith. Write down everyone’s fears, obstacles and roadblocks on the large piece of paper. When everyone has responded, tape the paper to the doorway. Join together to break through the paper covered in fears and barriers and walk through to the other side. Pray together and ask God to help you remember that God is always you, even through the unsure and scary times.