He will exalt you

To wrap up this devotional, we can do no better than read from the Apostle Peter: “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” (1 Peter 5:6–7).

Humility, exaltation, anxiety, and God’s care for us all intertwine beautifully here.

We humbly submit to God’s will, knowing he has promised to exalt us. Why can we humbly submit our anxieties to him? Because we know and trust that he cares for us and is mighty indeed. Our exaltation will come in this life or when he resurrects us, but it will come.

Jesus sympathizes with us when we worry yet still charges us not to be anxious. This means facing financial stress with boldness and without fear. If you cannot face bills without a clench of fear, why not? Learn to trust him. It may take years, but taking those short steps at a time will lead to surprising growth.

Even when we cannot manage to trust him, he’s there for us all the same.

What does it mean that the poor are blessed and that it’s more difficult for the rich to enter his kingdom? It means that our desperation and stress can bend our knees. We can’t be proud because we have nothing to stand on. We can’t be self-sufficient spiritually because the outward reality of financial stress won’t allow it.

God may use the stress to reveal sin and brokenness in your heart. Stress shows us what is important. Is money taking the place of God?

Casting our anxieties on him aids us on the path to humility. If we’re proud, we’re concerned about our own affairs, stressing about our jobs and innumerable desires that money will gratify. If we give those stresses over to the Lord, we will naturally think of ourselves less—another way of saying that we will become humbler.

We will never live perfectly peacefully, but every day we can try to set down the yoke of worries and pick up Jesus’ light and easy burden, finding respite, rest, and final satisfaction in him.

Our exaltation for earthly desires will not entirely come while we live here. But one day, Jesus will fully exalt us over sin. We will never worry about money again as, undoubtedly, it will not even exist in the New Creation.

Suppose we use our money and gifts faithfully, each according to what God has entrusted to us, and we cast our anxieties on him through deep prayer (Philippians 4:6–7). In that case, we will experience the joy of God regardless of our financial situation.