Ready:
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time.
1 Peter 5:6
Set:
On the surface it sounds pretty easy to humble yourself before God, but in reality it’s tough. To humble ourselves before Him means to be subject to Him. But we can’t see Him, so we forget He’s watching. Sometimes we can’t hear Him, so we forget He’s speaking. We can’t always feel Him close, so we forget He never leaves or forsakes us. So you can see why it is tough to humble ourselves before Him. Just because we can’t always see, hear, or touch God doesn’t mean He isn’t mighty. God is mighty. He is able to destroy entire nations if He so desires, as illustrated in many Old Testament stories like the one in which He gave the Israelites the highly fortified city of Jericho. (Read more about it in Joshua 6.)
God is all-powerful. When we live in accordance with His will, we get to experience the full effects of His abundant blessing. And as the 1 Peter 5:8 states, He will exalt us in due time if we remain humble before Him.
How can you humble yourself before God? Well, a start is to listen willingly to His advice. Go to His Word and discover His ideas. Spend time with Him. He would enjoy hanging out with you!
OK, so what if you do humble yourself under the mighty hand of God? Are there any real benefits? Yes! He tells us that He will exalt us in due time. This means you will be raised or lifted up out of a trial or trouble. If you have been faithful with your finances, He will bless them. If you are faithful to remain pure, He will bless you with an amazing spouse. In other words, God loves you so much that He will step in and take you out of the tough situation when He knows you need it … but probably not until then!
God does not give us more than we are able to handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). Even though at times our circumstances seem impossible to survive, He uses these tough times to grow us in our relationship with Him. Humble yourself before God and He will exalt and carry you through – ultimately for His glory.
Go:
1. On what occasions have you been humble before God? Why were you humble then?
2. Think about an area in your life that you need to give to God and be subject to Him. Offer this up to Him right now.
3. Be looking for God to step in and carry you through a tough time. When it happens and you see it, be sure to thank Him for intervening!
Workout:
Philippians 2
Psalm 84:11
Proverbs 3:34