“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he
will exalt you.”
—James 4:10 (NRSV)
Oh how difficult it is to be
appropriately and diligently spiritual!
In becoming spiritual we must
necessarily negate the flesh. In drawing near to God we must pull away from our
egos. A selfish desire cannot coexist in the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
Surely having read the Bible we would know this. Surely this is preaching to
the converted.
The trouble is, whilst we know
this information, and we appreciate the theology, we have much more trouble
applying it with consistent ardour.
Where our relationships falter
with the Lord is in devotion. We can devote our time and our energy and our
mind to the things of God, but if our devotion doesn’t penetrate our hearts,
little effect for God will be made.
Going Low to Get High
Achieving the dizzy heights of the
Presence of God is paradoxical in that we must be authentically humble. The
moment we get ahead of ourselves the Spirit of God scurries. And because we are
destined to get ahead of ourselves—going high—we get low. Pride comes before a
fall.
To get high regarding our
relationship with God we must intentionally, and gleefully, go low. We must
detach from our wants and needs, trusting God to provide by blessing us
according to our true needs, and seek to fulfil the needs of others in our
midst.
The more we are able to think of
others, without denying the truth of our own realities, the more we are able to
draw upon the humility of Jesus.
When we go low regarding our own
needs and desires, we get high in the divine pecking order. Love is endearing
to the world because God has constructed creation as implicitly a social
environment. Love is rewarded, whereas selfishness becomes despised. It’s the
law of life.
The more we think in these ways of
going low to get high the more we will actually behave in those ways. What we
pray for, always, is for a heart transformation to take place. We should want
to genuinely feel loving toward others.
Our hearts are the spiritual
organs tested most when it comes to others. How we behave by instinct, without
thought, is how we tested. The heart speaks through instinctive action. A pure
heart will love without thought.
***
When we are humble enough to exalt
others, God notices our humility and exalts us. Those who exalt themselves will
be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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