‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.'
So all are to allow themselves to be humbled under the mighty hand of God, and to give themselves to the humble task, rather than seeking status and earthly recognition, thus becoming strangers and pilgrims on the earth (1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 2:11). They are firstly to recognise Whom they serve, the Mighty God, Who had delivered His earlier people from bondage (for ‘the mighty hand of God' at the Exodus compare Exodus 3:19; Deuteronomy 3:24; Deuteronomy 9:26; Deuteronomy 9:29; Deuteronomy 26:8), and was doing the same today. It is the same mighty hand of God that is at work for them at the present time as the one that was exerted when His first people had experienced similar deliverance and had been brought to their inheritance. And as Israel had had to do, they are to accept whatever He sees fit to bring upon them (note the exhortations in Hebrews 3:7 to Hebrews 4:13), allowing it to fashion and mould their lives (compare 1 Peter 1:7; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Then in due time, at His appearing, when they receive their inheritance, they will be exalted.
And one advantage of such a position of humility will be that they will be able to cast their anxieties on Him, knowing that He cares for, and is watching over them. They will be able to enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:1-13). For such an idea compare also Matthew 6:25-32. We have already noticed how these connections with the words of Jesus abound.