When you think of humility, what comes to mind?
Definition of Humble from a quick Google search
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2.of low social, administrative, or political rank.“she came from a humble, unprivileged background”***************************************************
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. -1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV
It is interesting how that verse says “Humble yourselves.” Moses is a good example. Born into Israelite slavery in Egypt, he would eventually end up killing an Egyptian who was beating one of his countrymen. Bad news travels fast all the time, so Moses had no choice but to flee his palace life and take a job as a shepherd in the wilderness. Being a shepherd is the lowest job you can get. It’s smelly and you don’t make al of of friends.
At first glance, does Moses look like someone God can use to free all of Israel?
Heads up. God had bigger plans for him. After a lot of working in the background, orchestrating all the events that would lead to Moses’ burning bush moment. Moses eventually did God’s will for his life leading the people of Israel out of slavery. Though he originally told God to “Send someone else.” (Exodus 4:13) He didn’t think he was good enough. To Moses in the moment, it didn’t seem to matter that God said He would be with him all the way. Moses and God have quite the conversation Sometimes we have similar doubts, but God doesn’t give up on any of us if we are humble.
But… what happens when you’re not humble? What if you’re proud instead?
The Lord detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished
-Proverbs 16:5 NIV
The king of Egypt (or Pharaoh) was ridiculously proud of himself, thinking he had everything under control in his little kingdom. So proud that he would not let the Israelites go freeeven though the Lord brought 10 plagues on him and his country. In Exodus on several occasions it says that after a plague would happen the Lord Himself would “harden Pharaoh’s heart.” Just to show Who is really in charge. The king of Egypt couldn’t even control his own emotions over the course of the plagues God was using to humble him. It would take the death of Pharaoh’s own son before he became humble enough to let the people of Israel go free.
I suppose the main take away from all of this is if we humble ourselves before the Lord in the first place, we’ll be in better shape than those who don’t. If you ask God to humble you, you might not like the methods He chooses to make that happen, so we may as well humble ourselves and make it easier on everyone. We don’t have control over much of anything in life, but God has control of everything. When we admit this, we are actually able to be more useful to God than if we thought we had it all together. As the verse I opened with reminds us, He cares for us and wants us to tell him our worries. It’s all part of the relationship. Not just once in a while, but all the time.
The ultimate example of humility is Jesus. He came to earth in the form of one of us to die and be raised again, for our sins, when God could have just as rightly decided not to do that and left us to rot in the consequences of our sins. Instead, because of the humility Christ showed us, we have a way to get back into relationship with him instead of being separated. Easily the best thing that resulted from humility ever.