Pastor Tim’s Devotional

March 1, 2020

Scripture Reading – Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

This devotion is a continuation of the journey we began last week, walking humbly with our God. In that devotion, we imagined ourselves placing our hand in the always-outstretched hand of God. We recognized this as both the starting place of our relationship with God, and place of return during times like Lent, where we seek to enter into God’s rest through the unburdening of our souls (Matthew 11:28-30).

In taking God’s hand we recognize our need and give thanks for the grace that we have received, but this is only the first step on a difficult journey into the untamed wilderness of our hearts.

What does it mean to become humble in the presence of God? To ask this question another way, how does humility work to allow God to transform our hearts and lives?

In the simplest of terms, to become humble before God is to allow God to open our eyes so that we can see ourselves as we really are. In my experience this is so very hard, impossible in our own strength, but as Jesus reminds us in Matthew’s Gospel, all things are possible with God (Matthew 19:26).

Becoming humble before God requires us to grow in our trust of God’s unfailing love and abundant grace to the extent that we are willing to look into the mirror that God holds up before us. To see ourselves as we truly are. To see ourselves as God sees us. To know our true need and to cry out to the God who loves us for the help and healing that only God can provide.

To become humble in the presence of God is to ask God to help us see through our many disguises and to overcome our many defenses. To become humble before God is to ask God for the courage to accept what God shows us and the humility to ask God for help.

It is vitally important to remember that God does not hold up God’s mirror to our lives to condemn us. We are forgiven. We are accepted. We are beloved children of God. God holds up God’s mirror to our lives so that we can cooperate with God in the work that needs to be done. And over time, as we respond in humility to what God shows us, we will come to see in that mirror more and more of the completed work of God’s grace in our lives. And thanks be to God. Amen.

God Bless You

Pastor Tim