Though God calls me for a purpose and
promises to walk with me in the Way, God does not promise to ensure
my emotional or material comfort. Jesus does not promise that this
life of ministry will be pleasant, only that he will accompany me.
If I want to be faithful to God's plan for my life, I must first
accept that faithfulness may not look anything like success. The Lord
does not protect his faithful ones from suffering, only
from corruption.
In my experience, one prayer that God
answers consistently and immediately is this one: "Lord, humble
me." Help me to set my sights lower, smaller, simpler. Teach me
to quit making the ministry about myself - even vicariously through
my community. Show me how to be truly surrendered, bearing
my cross for the sake of the gospel. Allow me to shed my need to
"be somebody" in this world - to accept that I am just an
"extra" in this great historical drama. No one needs to
know my name.
Humble me, Lord. Make me less aware of
myself and teach me to attend to the needs of others. Deepen my life
of prayer - not to increase my own comfort, but so that I emanate your peace, joy and guileless love to those around me.
Let the same mind be in you that was
in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form
of
God,
did not regard equality
with God
as something to be
exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking on the form of a
slave,
being born in human
likeness,
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the
point of
death -
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly
exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and
under
the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the
Father.
- Philippians 2:5-11
3 comments:
This saved my day!!! Tying to be humble is hard!! Selfishness
envy greed and jealousy often get in the way!!
I thank God for you and your post. This pinched my heart like it's what my soul wants. :') May the Lord bless you brother. -Tey
I thank God for you and your post. This pinched my heart like it's what my soul wants. :') May the Lord bless you brother. -Tey
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