When you're in a public place with your child, and a stranger comes up and says hello, why do they instantly plant a death grip on your left knee and bury their snotty nose into your jeans?
When that monster's poking his head out of the closet again, why do they want you to sleep with them? Or better yet, why do they want to sleep in YOUR bed?
You know the answers, mommy and daddy...they trust in your commitment to the preservation of their well-being. They know you'll protect them, and give them what they need to survive.
In Luke 11:11-13, Jesus concludes some teaching on prayer with this:
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
Ask God in prayer, and He will give you what you need.
In Malachi 3, God commands Israel to "return to me, and I will return to you." He elaborates on this by saying,
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land." - Mal. 3:10-12
Wow. That's big stuff. Sounds great. But what does it have to do with humility?
James 4 was the basis for our foray into Humility101, and in v8, James says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." We need a humble spirit to do this, because we have to accept the truth about who we are and who God is: He is our Father, and we are His children. We don't have an inkling of the scope of God's reality - in fact, we can't even begin to grasp the totality of any particular aspect of our own lives. We're confounded by the simplest things, and we stumble on the tiniest of obstacles. Simply put, we need God, and His perfect provision.
Once we accept and embrace that truth, we put it into practice by drawing close to Him. Here are a few ways:
- We draw close to Him by studying His word, so that He can show us what we need to see in order to prepare for eternal life with Him, as well as survive and thrive in this one.
- We draw close to Him by thinking about what He's said, what He's promised, and what He's done, so that we can be constantly reassured of His love, care, and attention to our needs.
- We draw close to Him by sharing our time with Him in prayer. We express our awe at who He is and what He's doing, our thanks for the blessings He has poured out on us, and our concerns and requests for others.
- We draw close to Him by gathering together and encouraging each other.
- We draw close to Him by serving anyone and everyone we can.
Recently, I got into a Facebook discussion about living humbly, and God lifting us up. My friend said:
"People should lift themselves up for the sake of community and or society...if religion is needed by some in order to do that, then they need to be enlightened."
I was really troubled by the statement, but I wanted to share it, because all of us need to remember that we can't come close to God if we fall into the trap of thinking we've got any semblance of control. All too often, we accidentally, but wrongfully, begin to consider ourselves to be the center of the universe (our universe, at least). We know God created us, and we put our faith in His promises that He wants to be close to us, to love us, to provide us with everything we will ever need. But we forget that He designed and created us with the ability to choose; we must choose to come close to Him...choose to express our love for Him however we can...choose to demonstrate our love for Him by submitting to Him...choose to resist the self-centered scenarios the devil presents us...before our relationship with Him can even begin to reach its fullest potential.
One last thing: when that next thunderstorm pops up, and the kiddies come running to you, remember - at that very moment, God is loving you more than you're loving them. Enjoy the storm, my friend.
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