Sometimes
Humility challenges most of us, because we assume it forces us to give up our rights, peace and honor. I often grit my teeth when I think of showing kindness to those who malign me. I think of verses like 1 Peter 3:8-9, “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil with evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.” My flesh resists humbling itself, even when the hardship is just a loss, a physical pain, or other trouble. Then I heard a wise woman at my Bible study say that Adam and Eve were humbled to walk with God in the perfect Garden of Eden. Suddenly I realized humility can be a source of peace, contentment and bliss. This surprised and intrigued me. So please join me as I examine humility in light of God’s original plan for his beloved children.
Tying humility to the bliss of the Garden of Eden, inspired me to think of times when life must have seemed perfect. The best example I could recall (in our sinful world) is a baby in her mother’s womb. If the baby and mother are both healthy, the baby only knows perfect contentment. She is never hungry, cold, or lonely. Mother is always there, keeping baby warm, well fed and soothed, simply as she cares for herself. In some ways, Adam and Eve experienced a similar life. Adam enjoyed hearing God speak to him (Gens. 2:15.) Once Eve was created, Adam did not lack a human companion (Gens. 2:22.)
They never suffered hunger, because the Garden had all the food they needed to survive (Gens. 2:16.) Because Adam and Eve had not yet sinned, they had not suffered from hunger pangs, nor from painful cold exposure, nor from extreme heat exposure. Like the baby in the womb, they enjoyed a perfect environment with well-fed tummies. Yet my friend said Adam and Eve were humbled to walk with God, because they were told to obey his commands, and because they received the Garden from him (they did not create it themselves.) God’s commands to this couple were a joy, at least before Satan came to tempt them with rebellion.
And it is this joyful, humble walk that intrigued me. Normally I recall God humbling me with suffering, heart ache, and trials, so I can be more like Him. I know God has to do this so I will cling to him so he can soothe me and quiet my anxieties. To reach the calm, I first suffer hardships. In the Garden of Eden, the humble experience brought joy and not a single trial. God initially wanted his children to enjoy the humble walk with Him, without their suffering. He even warned them about potential suffering if they did not remain humbly obedient to him (Gens. 2:17.) God offered a good and humble life to Adam and Eve, but they rejected it. Even when we cling to God we cannot have a pain-free life now. Yet I sense that our hearts long for that perfect peace that Adam and Eve once enjoyed.
And so at the table with the other women, on a Saturday morning, I asked the other ladies about this idea my friend suggested. Another woman (very wise and nearly 90 years old) said she believes in that kind of humility and peace. She said that when she surrenders her cares to God, she feels great peace, and yes, it is a bit like a baby in the womb. There is such a sense of contentment as she no longer strives for more. But the peace for this elderly friend does not come without pain—both physical (multiple cancers in her body in younger years) and emotional (her husband and all of her sisters died.) So despite the joy she has when she surrenders to the Lord, she does pay a price in her aging body. Yet she agreed with my other friend, that peace comes when we humble ourselves.
So if such joy, bliss and contentment comes with humbling myself, why is it so hard to do so? I know my sinful nature resists humbling itself. Pride causes my sin nature to resist God’s will. But some conflict also bothers a side of my nature that is not prideful and simply longs for the perfect relationship that God will one day give me. When someone scorns me, it is not just my sinful pride that resists that treatment. There is also a healthy side of me that recognizes the wrongness of this rude behavior in another person, whether it is name-calling, insults or other harsh behavior. The healthy side of me knows that God esteems me. So when someone scorns me, it is not just my sin nature that revolts. It is also the redeemed me that says, “This is not who I am. Your treating me like dirt is not what God wants for me. God values me.” It is not just my sin nature that revolts against the bad behavior of others and then causes tension.
I was made for a perfect world where I am esteemed, not scorned. I was made for a place where my loved ones don’t betray me, use me, or selfishly disappoint me. A godly side of me is also not peaceful. I am made for heaven and a right relationship with God. The spirit-filled part of me grieves over how others hurt me. That side of me also grieves when people hurt others. I grieve when I hear others being scorned, yelled at and mistreated. I long for that perfect place with my perfect God who will redeem all those who surrender to Him. Then none of us will hurt each other. And those who are wicked (and never repent) will never be with us to hurt us anymore.
Even when I am not sinning, it hurts to lack peace. Whether my sin-nature rebels against someone scorning me, or my redeemed side recoils from such wrong behavior, I can choose my next response. I may need to pull back and consider what I am feeling and thinking. If I retaliate, I feed my sin nature. If I go to the cross (as my elderly friend said she does) and bring all my pain to the Lord and tell him how much the scorning hurts, I can find God’s peace. I can do this with other sorrows too. I can calm myself like the writer of Psalm 131:1-2, “My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself; I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” Like a contented child, I rest and trust in the Lord. Small children are very humble. Like the baby in the womb, they must rest and wait for someone to feed them. The fetus does not grow hungry, but the weaned child learns to wait while she is hungry. She is humble. So I can be patient while I suffer hardships. But I can come to the Lord and something amazing happens. Even though I am humbling myself, I am also getting a glimpse of heaven! I am getting a glimpse of what Adam and Eve enjoyed in the perfect Garden of Eve.
When I humble myself, if I rest and don’t strive, I get a glimpse of what my soul yearns for, and it is bliss. I have not fully examined this topic, but I need to close, lest I tire you with such a long story. Next week I will explore other life stories and Bible verses that support this wonderful idea of bliss and contentment in humbling ourselves. Thanks for joining us, and may the Lord bless you this week!