Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7)
Know any worriers? Some of us earn reputations with our friends and family for always worrying about something. The rest of us just hide it better. Once you get started, it's tough to stop. You'll never run out of good things to worry on -- from fretting over unsightly blemishes and odd-fitting clothes to obsessing over who likes us and who doesn't. We can fill our minds with "what if" thoughts about the worst things happening and "why not me" thoughts about good things happening to others. What triggers your worry instinct?
If you read these two verses together, they seem a little disconnected. They come at the end of a paragraph about humility. Peter writes that humility involves trusting God to meet our needs for significance (being loved, feeling respected, being "stable") in His timing. Then he turns around and tells us to throw (not drop) all of our worry on God, because He likes us.
Of course, the ideas are not disconnected at all. Trusting God with our anxiety is an action of humility. Holding on to worry is an act of great pride. "I can't let go of this thing; I've got to fix it." The problem is that "fixing" is God's job. Humility = trusting the God who loved you enough to give His Son for you and was powerful enough to raise Him from the dead. Pride = holding on to worry because God might not be able to handle your problem as well as you can.
What do we really think about God's love, power, and goodness? The answer has a lot to do with how much time we spend worrying.