Saturday April 9, 2011

In my reading this morning, I came across a profound passage and think I am going to break it down into four parts. God was speaking to the nation of Israel and wanted to bring forgiveness and healing to their land. But He was asking them(us) to do four specific things before the forgiveness was actualized and the healing of the land was accomplished. God was speaking to Solomon after he had built the temple and was in the process of dedicating it. God said to Solomon, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”(II Chronicles 7:14)

God said that the first step in the healing process involved humbling ourselves. This is not a natural thing to do, especially in our culture. There is little being taught on how to take responsibility for our actions. In fact, from the beginning of creation God asked Adam and Eve what they had done after they ate the fruit that God had told them not to eat. He was asking them to admit their wrong. Take responsibility. Own their wrong choice. But Adam blamed Eve when God asked him, and Eve blamed the serpent when God asked her. Neither of them humbled themselves by taking responsibility for their actions. To humble ourselves means that we need to take our focus off what other people are doing and focus our attention on what we have done in actions, attitudes or destructive ways. It means that we need to stop exhalting ourselves and begin admitting our faults and wrong choices first to ourselves and then to God.

Jesus said, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”(Matt. 23:12). The art of humbling ourselves is a lost art but an action we need to take if we are going to see God forgive us and bring healing to the situations and circumstances around us. This humbling is a painful process because we have to admit thar we are inadequate and/or our plans have been wrong. It is saying that I blew it and need HELP.

On this journey if you at a juncture on your journey and need forgiveness and healing, humbleness is the first step in experiencing freedom that the Lord has to offer as we journey with Him.