So how do we bow before God, humble ourselves before him?
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5.5b-7).
Very often our opportunity to bow before God comes as we deal with other Christians, other people in general, but Christians specifically.
This morning I have been in prayer about a situation that has me upset with what I perceive as other people’s self-centeredness and indifference. Several options are available where I could choose to fight the humans, get the battle down to flesh and blood, stand up for my rights, justify my cause. If nothing else, point out their bad form.
Or I can really treasure a moment to listen to God and instead of putting on warrior’s garb, I can clothe myself in humility. I know. . .how spiritual I am. And in this instant I am. So encouraging this morning that God has spoken, and I have listened.
It really is a better place to be, folks.
People talk about humbling themselves before God, but beside the words, beside the abstract 1-2-3’s of good Christian living, they don’t understand that humbling ourselves before God (verse 6) so very often means humbling ourselves before our brothers and sisters in Christ (verse 5).
“Stand right over here.”
You have been in this situation. You can’t see something unless you are standing in just the right spot. Your friend says, “Here, stand right here and look over there.”
And that is what God does through his words. He is not saying only pry the meaning from the text but live it. Let it move you to a place where God wants you to be. And there is a very refreshing fountain to drink from if we stand where God wants us to. Under this fountain we taste the goodness and grace of God, we soak in his strength and perspective, his “all things work together for good” statements sink deeply into our hearts.
It’s a great thing to believe God when it counts.
