Being humble in a self centered world

You know that feeling you get when you are speeding and you pop up over the hill and see a police car staring at you from the median? Or what about that feeling when you are driving and you see blue lights turn on right as you pass? It is king of this feeling where your stomach tightens up and sweat beads begin forming on your previously cool forehead. It is a sight that should not cause such trepidation, but because you were doing something wrong, those lights carry a mean bad things for you. Ever notice how you are not as tough as you think you are when the officer approaches? All the anger about how you were only doing 8 over that was building from the moment you saw the lights immediately goes away when he taps on your window. All the bravado that you will have later when telling others about your encounter with the Law, will be noticeably missing. It will have been completely replaced momentarily by humility. It is one of the rare moments when all we can do is act pitiful, agree and pray you only get a warning. It is that feeling we will be looking at this week. As I was reading this week, the thought of Jacob seeing his brother approaching with 400 men made me thing about my own times of seeing the blue lights.

Humility is not something I struggle with. I think there is potential there for me which is why I believe God intervenes on a regular basis to keep my head from getting too big. Whether its blue lights flashing in the background or simple events reminding me how little I am, click here to read about my latest “Don’t get cocky” moment. But in the case of Jacob, lets just say humility was a learned trait, much like it was for the Prodigal son I imagine. Jacob had done some dirty things in his life and had pretty well gotten one over on his brother Esau. Here we see a story of twins living completely separate lives. One deceitful decision strained their relationship and sent Jacob running for his life to Haran. Big brother Esau was capable and willing to do some serious harm to Jacob, so Jacob leaves. God tells him many years later to return home and restore his relationship with Esau. There are two main things i noticed during this passage about humility:

1. Humility is dangerous. As Esau and his 400 men were approaching, Jacob put everything in order and then went and bowed down expecting the worst. He knew to be obedient to God’s call on his life, he had to return. In doing so , he returned very vulnerable. He was safe where he was. Not only safe but very successful. Everything in life was going pretty well, but at some point he had to return to deal wit his past. At the moment he knelt down and allowed humility to take over, he put himself in the most vulnerable position. He would not be able to defend himself from Easu. Being humble means being vulnerable. Jacob was slick and used to working his way out of situations. This time however, he humbly submitted. This was a new position for him to be in. Rather than depending on his own scheming and abilities, he gave it all to God and trusted Him with the outcome.
2. Humility opens doors. What would have happened if Jacob had returned with a few men to try to force his way back home? What if he stormed back like nothing had happened? I think Esau would have destroyed him. It is likely Esau had forgiven Jacob and desired his return, but Jacob’s humility showed Esau a changed person. I have the feeling all the anger Esau had dealt with in the past over this issue would have come roaring back if Jacob had responded in some other way. Choosing to be humble prevents us from thinking too highly of ourselves. When we humbly approach other people we have the opportunity to mend fences and work in ways that may have been cut off by our self confidence. We need to remember this as we seek to live out our faith in our communities.

Humility will not go unnoticed. Our current culture tells us to sell ourselves. Life is all about us and what we think and do. Do what makes you feel good and don’t worry about others. Get all you can get while you can get it! When we choose to act with humility that is something this culture can’t understand. Take a look at your life this week and see how a humble walk would impact your life. What situations would change if you chose to respond humbly? Who do you need to mend relationships with? Who is making the attempt to respond humbly to you, but your anger or pride is preventing it? Let’s not forget that Esau showed an amazing picture of humbleness and forgiveness as he ran to his little brother and picked him up and hugged and kissed him. He welcomed his brother back rather than digging up the past. So, on both sides of the story we see humility exampled.