"I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy." Psalm 123:1-2
Easter Sunday at the community of faith where I am a part was absolutely overwhelming. I think it is the greatest Easter weekend of my life as far as seeing the activity of God in people's lives. I was a mess all day, and now I have a spiritual hangover.
I'm relatively glad I have that hangover today though.................it quieted me in soul. The glow of God's greatness can cause us to live on the adrenaline of that moment for a while, but the reality of who He is begins to creep in when we quiet our soul and listen. I got quiet this morning and listened. And what I heard was the need for humility.
When God does great things, He does them to bring glory to Himself. Sure, we receive good from God using us to work with Him in His plan, but, as one theologian has put it, "we are just distributors, God is the manufacturer." It is God that initiates His work in the hearts of people, and it is God that carries that work on to completion ( note Philippians 1:6). If ever we forget that, we are in a place of desperation spiritually because we begin to lean our own competencies and abilities instead of leaning on Christ.
Psalm 123 reminds us that the place our eyes need to look is north of our selves...............so far north that it reaches the throne room of heaven where God resides. Our dependence on God should be like that of a slave looking to a master or a maid looking to the hand of her mistress. These are two pictures to suggest utter dependence on God for everything we need.........and everything He desires us to do. A maid would not even think to try to act independently of her mistress back in the time of the ancients. She existed for her mistress. So, too, we are to exist for our God.............the One who knows what He wants us to become and what He wants us to do.
Dependence on God demands humility. And humility can be hard........especially when things are going well. But it is a needed component of character in the Christ life, maybe even the MOST needed character quality. When you see genuine humility in people (not the false kind that is easily discernable) it is so refreshing because it speaks to the life of Christ that is living and active. On the contrary, one of the most repulsive things to a world looking for Christ is a "Christian" that is full of himself/herself. What need does the world have of Christ, when those who bear His name seem to be doing just fine without Him (or so they think)?
I am praying that humility will change the playing field of life for you and me. When genuine, deeply rooted humility takes hold in our life, we will then know more of Christ because He is living out His character through us. Let's pray together that this happens.......not just for our sake, but for the sake of the world that so desperately needs Jesus.
