Humble Thyself

Oswald Chambers asks in today’s devotional; “How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves?” While we may not want to answer this question, the reality is we answer through our attitudes and actions every day.

According to pastor Jim LeShana, taking a look at our agenda and checkbook is a good indicator of who and what we are catering to. For some it will be a life of fun. Others are committed to reaching career or financial goals. Many strive to turn their homes into a haven on earth. Regardless what dreams of the good life might look like, usually the driving force behind our efforts are self-centered wants and desires: not God inspired callings on our life. We want to enjoy life, acquire power or security or wealth. Many want to live pampered with every modern comfort. While none of these desires are necessarily bad, the self focus it takes to achieve these wants renders us in many ways unavailable to the Lord. Simply stated, we often allow self interest to dominate our thoughts and time, leaving little or nothing to offer Christ.

According to Chambers, one can even focus too much energy on how they can be used for the kingdom. “The continual inner searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God.” Basically, God does not demand that we become uninterested in our own deep understanding of who we are and what we mean to the kingdom. No. God will allow us to remain in our personal pools of self study and wonder.

However, as Oswald states; “We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves,” before others may become our primary focus: recipients of the goodness God desires to share through us. Yet, the Lords will is that we find at the end of our self absorption freedom to minister to others and develop powerful intercessory prayer lives.

This of course is difficult to develop because we live in a world which boasts the importance of our personal rights, satisfaction and importance. Therefore, our days can easily be filled with events and pleasures we have come to believe we deserve, have a right to or can’t live without. The truth is we deserve death, we have a right to nothing (for everything belongs to God), and we can live on almost zero. We are a generation who has been fed a pile of lies and are weakened for feasting upon them. I have to constantly remind myself there is hope of escape from a stagnant self-centered life. The key...find someone who doesn’t balk at being pushed to the back of the line, is completely content, and who joyfully considers others more important than themselves and you will find a humble soul. (You may have to look for a while.)

Humility is truly the spring board for a soaring intercessory prayer life. For when we see ourselves as God sees us, we are less concerned with recognition or temporal desires and circumstances. Our value is found in Christ and not others. Our minds will be clear of worldly cobwebs and our hearts become ready to heed the prompting of the Holy Spirit: to pray for the things important to the Lord. Thus, the more content we become the more available we are for kingdom matters. And those who are eager to serve others will definitely be utilized by God.

Until we understand who we are in Christ, we will struggle with humility. For it is not something we can manufacture on our own. A humble heart is not part of our natural make-up but is produced through the revelation of how great and magnificent our God is: glorious and holy. When one grasps man’s truly desperate state and inability to be righteous, they gain insight to the Lord’s humbling mercy and grace. Not a single human soul is righteous. This truth levels the playing field between men and allows room for compassion and acceptance. For each is provided an equal chance at eternal victory. What remains is a choice.

We can choose to accept our humble state before God and surrender our will to serve the Father’s or we can reject the Solid Rock of Christ and strive to build temporal lives which will crumble like castles made of sand. Regardless of who we choose to serve, humility is something every soul will encounter: some through repentance and others through humble pie.

“choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord,” (Joshua 24:15NIV).