“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
(James 4:10)
When I was meditating on the phrase “Humble yourselves” and its meaning, I found the Holy Spirit leading me to one meaning. This meaning is a person admitting a mistake. From there I found myself running into Saul the king and Samuel the prophet, which is mentioned in 1st Samuel chapter 13. In an intense showdown, Samuel said to the king: “What have you done?” I looked at the king waiting for him to admit his mistake, but instead he made up an excuse and justified his action. He did not say: “I made a mistake.” So Samuel responded harshly: “You have done foolishly.” I left them and went on my way, sad that Saul did not humble himself to admit his mistake.
But oh my soul, why are you looking at Saul as if you were not Saul one day? Not only once but many times in your life have you made the same mistake. How many times you justify yourself in what you are doing calmly with reasons and logic just like Saul? You foolishly think that the other party believes what you say and you only respect your own pride. In fact, he leaves you and saying: “This one has done foolishly.”
The Bible’s promise is good to everyone who wants to humble him or herself, but the ego worries us from being inferior in the people’s eyes. This promise “Humble yourselves … And he will lift you up.” I experienced that during the trial of 2013. The Devil was jealous of me and my service. God had blessed me with His grace in being able to serve. Satan made me fall in sin. Not only this, but Satan also enticed the congregation of my church to think that I was an evil person and that I deserved more than what I was punished for. Then after all these workings which Satan had done, he was shocked by seeing the entire congregation talking about the virtues and ministries God used me for. This happened because Satan did not know that I admitted, I made a mistake and that I deserved punishment; I believed in God’s promise:
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the lord, and he will lift you up.”