Some choir members and I were remembering ways parents once "humbled" their kids who misbehaved in church services. First came the warnings: the raised eyebrow, the withering look, the clearing of the throat, the knee squeeze or rib poke, and the dreaded "Just wait til we get home." Or, if the culprit wasn't sitting with the family, there might be the eerie index finger that said "YOU, stand-up-and-walk-over-here-and sit-by-me. YES,-in-front-of-the-whole-congregation-they've-been-looking-at-you-anyway." Any of these warnings often served as a prelude to a quick and noisy walk down the aisle and out the door, with a few prayer requests going up for the child in tow. Woe, woe, woe!
A pastor long ago told our youth, "If you humble yourself God doesn't have to do it, but if you keep rebelling in sin and pride, He finds unpleasant and unforgettable ways to remind you Who's in charge and who's not." Shudder! Praise God, His Holy Spirit serves as an early-warning system which can make humbling ourselves a do-it-yourself project. King David and the disciple Peter, both graduates of God's lessons in how He humbles the proud, provided directions in Psalm 139:23-24 and 1 Peter 5:6 (below). When we volunteer to open up before God and let Him reveal areas of pride, rebellion, and apathy then He uses His mighty hand to lift us up and help us not to fall. But, when we let sin, self and pride build up inside, He uses that same mighty hand to smack us back to the reality of His sovereignty in some creative and memorable ways. My hand is up! I volunteer to do-it-myself!
Father, You're good, kind and loving. You'll keep us from making fools of ourselves if we'll cooperate with You. Help us heed the warnings! Keep us sensitive to Your Voice and Your Heartbeat. May we recognize and confess immediately when sin enters our minds, our hearts, our habits. Search us and test us. Help us let go of worry and anxiety which are the enemies of faith. Help us use the spiritual crowbar of true repentance to pry out anything You find offensive in our lives. Everything we are and have we owe to You. Take it all and teach us just how satisfying You are.
In the name of Jesus the Humble Servant of His Father who called Himself the Son of Man
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:6
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." Job 1:21
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