I Peter 5:6
So humble yourselves under the mighty hand (power) of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor.
Took a trip yesterday morning....
Driving, sun not up yet, cool breeze and the anticipation of hooking up with an old friend.
He had called asking if we could get together, as there was a lot going on in his life.
Sure enough....there was.
As I sat down across from him, not much had changed since I first saw him when he entered the program at Rapha. He still looked the same. He dressed the same (always the best clothes). But the words he spoke, and the passion he spoke them with let me know that something had changed in this man's life.
He use to be consumed with having and being the best. Best job....best truck.....best family.....best clothes...and on and on. Was that a bad thing? Well, it could be, but to this man, these were the very trappings of his addiction. You see, this man was consumed with insecurity....fear of failure...and the need for approval. All of this pointed him in the direction of hiding behind his drinking and drugging. He was not going to humble himself for anyone or anything. Such would be to deny who he truly wanted to be. To humble himself would bring his life, a house of cards, tumbling down and expose him for all the world to see. That wasn't going to happen. Isn't if funny when God's plans don't line up with ours. What's up with this?
How did this change happen? It began with this man humbling himself. It began with this man telling God..."I'll do what ever you want me to do." Little did he know his journey would begin in a car wash, drying the cars as they came through. Here, in this car wash, he would run into everyone he lived his life trying to impress. The usual questions came his way...."Why are you here doing this?" Not to mention those who would not even talk to him. Oh, he wanted to quit on a daily basis, but he didn't. He stuck it out.
During this journey to a new way of living, my friend had several relapses. Each time, he would crawl back out of the proverbial ditch, confess with a broken heart,and receive the healing he needed. Try it again. He did not give up, nor make excuses for his failure. All of this drove him deeper and closer to God. The last rehab my friend attended was where he ran into the real, deal God. You see, there is a vast difference between the real-deal God, and the God of religion. My friend had been all caught up in the religious God, because you could go to church and appear to have it all together, while on the inside, hiding all the crap and sin that causes you to live a double life.
As we sat and shared with each other, there was a passion for Jesus. A zeal and a fire to forsake everything that seemed to be important in my friends old life. The man sitting across from me truly was a II Corinthians 5:17 man. He was a new creation in Christ. The old things had passed away and the new things were headed down the pike like an early Christmas parade. My friend lives his life daily with the thought "Less of me and more of you Lord".
Reckon why it is so hard for us to humble ourselves, when in fact it is the way to the life we have been trying to build.
God on you....
mbb
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