Embracing Humility

In all seasons of life God provides opportunities to walk in humility before Him.  Today I saw a video of a young teen playing baseball who hits home runs with ease.  That was always a dream of mine in Little League:  to hit a home run over the fence.  Though a proficient player and coming close several times, it was a goal I was never able to achieve.  I bounced balls off the fence, but never hit one out.

A high degree of skill or below-average ability in sport both have ways of exposing pride and our need for repentance and humility.  The trouble about being good at something is we begin to have high expectations of ourselves we never had when first starting out.  As my bowling average rose with practice, so did my expectations of better scores.  Games I would have been pleased with years before when I was just "having fun" became a source of frustration.  But it wasn't 10-pin bowling, my team, my poor technique, or the score which was the problem:  the issue was pride in my heart.  Navigating failure in technique or execution of fundamentals is not nearly as challenging as addressing the pride prior success can bring.

In the heat of the moment it is easy to lose my composure, but the conviction of the Holy Spirit and even gentle rebuke by others has helped me regain proper perspective.  I am glad to have the insights afforded by God's grace to King Nebuchadnezzar after his seven years of madness in Daniel 4:37:  "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down."  After proud Nebuchadnezzar was humbled, God restored him to rule once again as king.  The greatest men ultimately will be humbled before our glorious God, but better to humble ourselves before Him voluntarily.  God is able to humble kings, sportsmen, intellectuals, celebrities, and the average Joe without difficulty, and we are blessed to embrace it.

Failure to perform well at sport up to our expectations is a humbling experience, and whenever we are humbled it is good.  The flesh resists and resents this treatment which can take far more than seven years, but it bears eternal fruit that is pleasing and acceptable to God.  We would be pleased with a perfect game in bowling or by hitting a grand slam to win the baseball game, but God is pleased when we humble ourselves before Him win or lose, thankful and grateful for the chance to play a game, enjoy being part of a team, and doing our best.

Training Up Children

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

When I was an apprentice, a big part of my training was following the example set by my foreman concerning how he wanted work done.  Over many years I spread my time between several different foremen and they all had different standards and expectations.  My conduct was a mix between standards of quality established in the classroom as well as in the field on the job among my peers.  I was required to switch gears quickly between tasks and multiple job sites, remembering how particular bosses wanted duct wrapped, chillers covered with rubber, or how exposed metalwork should be completed.  I benefited from working under and receiving training from journeyman who had different specialities.

Solomon exhorted parents to train up children in the right way applying knowledge of God's wisdom and truth.  Being a proverb, however, this is not an absolute guarantee that godly parenting always results in godly children through adulthood.  This is a general principle not a promise.  God is the perfect Father, yet His people went astray in unbelief.  There are many people who were raised by godly parents who went their own way, and children raised in homes without the knowledge of God later became His faithful servants.  Many parents have heaped guilt and condemnation upon themselves because they blamed their poor parenting for their child's rebellious choices.  Others imagine they must have done a great job of parenting because their kids are well-behaved with polite manners.  But the maxim rings true:  children trained to obey and honour obey God in their youth will be most likely to continue walking in God's ways through adulthood.

If we desire to train up children to live the right way, it is important as parents we set a godly example.  Childhood provides many teachable moments, opportunities to practically apply scripture, and hands-on experiences we can utilise to encourage, teach, and correct.  A father who loves his son will discipline him when necessary in an appropriate and loving manner as the situation and the leading of the Holy Spirit dictate.  As parents it is imperative we remain humble and teachable during the process of this training, for God uses children to instruct parents in countless ways.  How many times in teaching my children has God taught me and revealed my need to change!  Ultimately both parents and children will stand before God and give account for their actions:  parents will not be condemned for stubborn or wayward children, and children will not be given a free pass to disobey because their parents were slack.

Since I want my children to go the right way, I must be disciplined and responsible to walk in the right way myself.  It is hypocrisy for me to refuse to do myself what I expect of my kids.  Becoming angry about their disobedience or laziness could very well be self-inflicted, for it may be I have been slack to communicate, instruct, discipline, or adequately model a standard which meets my expectations.  Child rearing is a means God uses to train parents and guardians of children to look to Jesus for strength and wisdom, to step up in obedience to Him, and to press on in personal sanctification.  Should my children follow Jesus through adulthood, it is not because I have "done something right" but because God is gracious and good, worthy of being followed forever.

Stay Hungry and Thirsty

I don't think anyone prefers troubling times, feeling insecure, or realising we are in danger.  These seasons of hardship can provide a blessing and benefits ease and comfort cannot.  Recently I saw an example firsthand of how trials shift our perspective.  I observed a new social media acquaintance share a series of posts on what bothered them, pet peeves concerning politics and church.  But when there was a diagnosis of cancer in the family, the perspective shifted to seeking God in prayer with tears.  The awful, sudden illness shifted focus from self to God for the better.

The Bible has many such examples.  The book of Judges has a repeating cycle of people doing what is right in their own eyes, crying out to God, then God raising up a deliverer.  Yet as soon as the judge through whom God wrought deliverance and rule died, they ceased from following the LORD.  God revealed this predictable outcome concerning His people in Deuteronomy 32:15-18:  "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. ¹⁶ They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. ¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. ¹⁸ Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you."

When the house was built, the food abundant, and the enemies defeated, the people of God grew complacent.  With physical needs met and barns full there was little motivation to pray for God to provide.  Thankfulness and gratefulness were swallowed up with greed and covetousness.  Their success caused them to forsake the God who caused them to succeed in every endeavour.  They were not mindful of God because they were not troubled on every side and did not seek His guidance because they were self-confident.  God, in His grace, would allow His own people to fall by the hands of their enemies, to suffer lack and pains, to face famine and languish through drought so they might recognise their lack and turn their eyes to God again.

How silly it is to kick out at God, to provoke Him with pride and idolatry!  This tragic response of God's people has been a cycle common in my life too.  There is a redemptive aspect of failure, tragedy, and trials I do not always appreciate at the time:  God uses seasons of plenty and lack to show us what is in our hearts and to move us to look to Him in thanksgiving and salvation.  It is good for us to come to God hungry and thirsty, desperate for His wisdom and guidance like a little child who runs to his father when he sees a stranger, an unfamiliar cat, or upon hearing a noise at night.  In all our doing, our coming and going, let us not forget the God who fathered us, the God who loves us and has graciously provided for all our needs.  This place of faith, humility, and reliance upon God promotes spiritual fitness and increases energy for His service.

Seeking An Occasion

When God says His thoughts and ways are above ours, He isn't wrong.  How often we look at situations without knowledge necessary to understand what God's purposes are!  Samson's parents faced such a dilemma with their son's choice of a spouse.  He demanded they go to Timnath and arrange a marriage with a Philistine woman who lived there.

Initially Manoah and his wife gently rebuffed the idea, suggesting there must be a woman among their countrymen who would be a more suitable match.  But Samson would not be deterred.  Judges 14:4 reveals this particular choice was of God:  "But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD--that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel."  It seems odd God would "seek an occasion" against the Philistines in such an...unorthodox way...as if there is an orthodox way.  Reading this emphatically demonstrates God is right to use whatever means He wants to accomplish His good purposes.  Behind Samson's request for a Philistine bride was an occasion God would use to deliver His people from their oppressors.

God's ways are higher than ours, and like Him we ought to seek opportunities to do good.  We cannot say how God will use a kind word, a compassionate smile, or prayers for the benefit of others.  Galatians 6:9-10 says, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  God provides us opportunities to spend and be spent for His glory, to give of our time, resources, and efforts to encourage and edify others, especially amongst fellow believers.  A farmer understands the seed he sows will bring forth a crop after its kind, and as we sow to the Spirit there will be eternal fruit we don't even realise.

It was faith in God--not in the wisdom or foresight of their son Samson--which would have provided peace in a very troubling and unexpected development, that Samson would ask for the hand of a Philistine girl in marriage!  How that must have gnawed at them, and what pains they endured when the marriage lasted only days and their son came home angry and broken.  But God knew what He was doing; God's purposes were being furthered in a way none could have predicted.  The vendetta between Samson and the Philistines escalated until the death of Samson, and in his death he defeated more Philistines than he had during his life.  Only God can bring victory in death.

Isn't it amazing God would come to earth and die for sinners on Calvary in the person of Jesus Christ?  No one could have anticipated such a thing, not even the scheming devil himself.  The death of Jesus and His resurrection was a death blow to the powers of Satan, death, and hell.  God provided for Himself a spotless Lamb to atone for the sins of all under Satan's rule, and He shed His own blood to purchase all who will trust in Him.  The ways of God are truly past finding out!  Who knows what God will do in the lives of people and nations to accomplish His purposes!  What appears or actually is foolish in the hands of our gracious God can be redeemed for good and His glory.