Walk Humbly With Your God
As Christians, we know that setting up a monument of
ourselves is probably not being Spirit led.
It reflects an attitude of self-focus, self-promotion, and self-exaltation;
primarily, it reflect self at the center and Saul’s struggle with pride. Here
were some of the circumstances that led Saul down this path:
Saul had success as a leader. All Isreal head it said that Saul had
defeated the garrison of the Philistines with three thousand men of Isreal
between him and his son Jonathan.
When the pressure was on and the Philistines gathered with thirty thousand
chariots, six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore, many
Isrealite fighters ran and hid, even surrendering and joining the Philistines. As a result, Saul began losing his
nerve. When he only had 600 men left, he
stopped waiting for Samuel and started taking things into his own hands as he failed
to trust the Lord with the situation. He
offered the sacrifice which also displays some pride on his part by this.
As the men of Isreal had been hard pressed, Saul laid an oath
on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and
I am avenged on my enemies” (1
Samuel 14:24). Notice the subtle focus
is on Saul? He draws the people to avenge
him and not God. He is turning their
hearts away from the Lord and on to worship and sacrifice for him. He is making
himself central.
The edict Saul made had nothing to do with what was best for
the troops or most glorified God. When
Saul found out that Jonathan tasted honey, he was ready to kill him as a result—his
very own son. It was Saul’s reputation and
the order that he issued that made him merciless.
At the core of pride is making oneself central. And to walk in pride, one naturally also
struggles with mercy and true justice.
They are too focused on themselves to genuinely have care for
others. It is more about their sphere of
influence and that others treat them with respect (in their being central). In defending his centrality, it makes sense
he would come hard after anyone who challenged him.
When Saul was charged with completely destroying Amalek and
devote to destruction all that they have, he held back with the bounty. He defeated them but then kept the best
items along with sparing the king as a symbol of status. He not only disobeyed the Lord, but was
trying to win over the people from God by giving them the best bounty in
disobedience and rebellion. He was the ‘great
guy’ at the Lord’s expense.
Saul had become ineffective as a leader as he became the central
focus. He became comfortable with power
and began to attribute it all back to himself rather than God. As pride comes before a fall and Saul became
puffed up with his own accomplishments, his choices became more corrupt and conflictual
with the Spirit of God.
Timothy Geoffrion, in his book, The Spirit-Led Leader,
notes that we are ineffective as a leader and out of balance when we allow the priority
of the team shift away from effectively serving Christ’s purposes in the
world. These leaders often woo people
for the sake of their own gain; whereas “spiritual leaders win followers for
the sake of Christ and to further the Kingdom of God.” [1]
As Christians, we are to be transformed from a self-centered
focus to a God-centered and God-serving manner of living. We should grow in humility over time and
become more free to be Spirit-led. Here,
Saul was moving in the opposite direction.
He became more and more distant from the purposes of God as he continued
to feed his pride and focus on self. Sow
to the wind and reap a whirlwind. Here Saul’s
feeding of his pride led to disastrous places of murdering all the priests and
trying to kill David (and his own son again).
Geoffrion points out, whenever there is undue focus and
value on achievement, appearance, and status, there is increasing pressure to perform
for people rather than serving God. An
overemphasis on outcomes will often undermine one’s ability to create a
positive, constructive, and spiritually rich environment that results in
flourishing of the people and the overarching organization. [2]
Those who aspire to be effective as spiritually-led leaders,
will first and foremost, focus on God. All
their own efforts and the encouragement to their staff are to exalt Christ
first and foremost. They will move themselves
out from being central, and make the Lord central. Rather than being power focused,
their lives will be Christ focused at every turn. They draw on what they have spiritually to
further advance other’s spirituality.
Geoffrion writes, “Christians who aspire to be vital and effective
leaders will lead in ways that draw on their spiritual lives to the maximum
degree possible.” [3]
When we look at the difference between Saul and David, there
is a clear dividing line. David refused
to do anything that dishonored the Lord.
When tested, he chose the path that most glorified God, at his own
expense. Where Saul shifted from drawing
people onto himself, comparison, blame, gain and self-preservation.
David was much more effective as a leader. But this is because with David, the focus was
all on God and not himself personally. David
had his leadership rightly ordered and it caused the people under him to
flourish. Even with the most difficult men
(leaders) that followed him (the ones nobody else wanted), they became great
because their own greatness was not their focus, glorifying David was not their
focus, but glorifying God was what made David and those under him great.
Bill Johnson, in his newest book, The Holy Spirit, notes
that the face of God is our ultimate quest.
God possesses everything necessary for entering a fulfilling and adventurous
relationship with each person on earth—at the same time. He always rejoices in having a heartfelt
connection with those made in the image of God. And, it is in knowing Him, our purpose for
being unfolds. He created us for a
relationship with Him. [4]
Whenever our focus turns our seeking to be outside of God,
putting something else above this, we get lost.
Often that focus is self. Something
gets our focus on ourselves and we get turned in a wrong direction. It is exactly our focus on self that also
leads to arrogance / pride. We have success
when we are self-sufficient, and we take all God’s credit. Turning things toward ourselves with others
will lead to both insecurity as well as pride and arrogance.
Micah asks what the Lord requires of him and he gets back an
answer, among a few other things to walk humbly with the Lord (Micah 6:8). Do we get that walking humbly with the Lord
is one of the few handful of requirements He has for us?
In looking at being led by the Spirit, as many authors note,
a key element is to walk humbly with the Lord.
If we are out of alignment with this, we are not being led by the Spirit
but walking away from Him. Bill Johnson
pointed out in a recent sermon that when our mind isn’t under the Spirit’s influence,
it opposes God. There is no neutral
ground. [5]
So not being led by the Spirit, we are in opposition to God.
Often, it can be distractions such as
fears, resentments, offenses and other things that get us off course. If we embrace
anxiety, fear, resentment and regret, it taints the way that we see the world and it will lead us down a path that has no good
outcome but repentance. At the root of
anxiety and fear is misplaced trust in failing to trust the Lord-- and to not trust Him is the essence of foolishness.
[6]
Our trust grows through our yielding, not striving or taking
control. It takes trust to surrender and
we nurture our relationship with Him, growing trust, by our surrendering and yielding. Surrendering and yielding come from a place
of humility. With being humble, the Hebrew word is tsana,
Strongs #6800 and it conveys a demeanor or attitude of submission before God. It
was required and highly valued in the Israelite culture, seen as essential for
maintaining harmony and justice. [7]
Surrendering to God, with the willingness to obey whatever
He says, is also the key to spiritual authority.[8] We see Him as the answer and not our own strength. This is why Paul boasted in his weaknesses, so
that the power of God would rest upon him (2 Corinthains 12:9).
Proverbs 11:2 tells us that when comes pride then comes
shame but with the humble is wisdom.
Wisdom is attached to humility because the Holy Spirit is attached to
those who walk in humility. Where pride,
a sin, is far from walking with the Holy Spirit so it creates confusion and
leads to disgrace.
The great leaders in the Bible all had this character trait
in common: Humility. Moses was the most
humble man on the face of the earth. And
Noah, built the arc in the face of a flood never having come to the earth and
certain mockery by everyone around. This
took humility. Where we see Saul and Rehoboam, among others,
were disgraced because of their pride.
Charles Stanely notes that, “growing in humility is a
lifelong venture as you increase in knowledge of God’s word and appreciation
for God’s work through Christ.”[9] What
I love about the verse in Micah, is that humility is something done in the
sight of and walking with God.
The hilariousness of it is that if we try hard to be humble,
we end up being prideful about humility.
Humility comes from seeing how incredible and great God is and who we
are in comparison—deeply loved and a benefactor of His goodness.
When I first encountered Father God, I had a vision and could
see how immense He was and how He had created everything over all time. I became disheartened and told Him, “I am not
even a speck of dust in a moment of time.”
He then spoke to me so powerfully, “Twila, I created you at the center
of my heart.” I wept for days on
end. I was so overwhelmed by Him, His
immense beauty, and His love for me.
When we see how great He is, we are left with nothing to
say. He says it all. He is all.
To see Him, it leaves us humbled. Therefore, I would love to suggest that the
primary way to seek humility is to meditate on Him, His word and seek to encounter
God. He promises that if we seek Him
with all our hearts, we will find Him.
So let’s really seek and encounter Him. We will be humbled and left speechless.
Charles Stanely also has five suggestions for pursuing
greater humility in our lives. They are
[10]:
·
Bodily Prayerfulness
·
Rigorous Confession
·
Regular Periods of Fasting
·
Outward-Facing Intercession (for others)
·
Others-Centered Conversation
I would note that prayer daily for humility is also a great
way to grow into it. A friend of mine,
who was a very humble man that I admired, gave me a Litany
of Humility by EWTN which has been powerful to pray.
Another very humble man that I know gives away “The Practice
of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrance to others which is a great way to
grow by example in humility. Brother
Lawrence notes that by steadfast gaze on Him, the soul comes to a knowledge of
God, full and deep, to an unclouded vision as all life is passed in unceasing
acts of love and worship, of contrition and of simple trust, of praise, and
prayer, and service. [11]
Such a beautiful picture of walking with God and
encountering Him with humility. Enoch
walked with God and was not, for God took him.
The humility of Enoch was great.
How can we know this? Because God honored Him and the word say that it
is the humble that He honors.
As our desire for this kind of relationship with the Lord
increases, it will strengthen our resolve for humility. The more we encounter Him, the more we become
intoxicated and willing to lay down our pride, our desire to be esteemed or
praised, our need to be loved and preferred by others, our longing for approval
and being consulted.
We were made for Him and we were made to walk in humility with
Him through our lives. There is now
better or rewarding place to be. Our
lives just make sense when we walk humbly with Him. Not only this but we overflow with His
compassion and mercy, the parts of doing justice and having mercy just ooze out
of us everywhere we go.
My first pastor, who was known as a prophet, wrote about what she called the "Enoch Generation." These are the people who stand in the day of darkness and evil, on the edge of the day of judgement and triumph during the day of tribulation. She called them the people of Zion as they enter the realm of eternity, having the revelation that we are already there. These on the ones who run their race with endurance, keeping their eyes fixed on eternity. They are not found part of the world system but live in the realm of faith (trust) as they surrender completely to Him. She notes, "Like Enoch, they please God." She goes on to say about this time that she heard the Lord speak that the day of dissolution of pride is coming. He will dissolve:
Self-Reliance
Self-Sufficiency
The place of not needing God
Just recently, I had a picture of wolves looking to devour who they could. I also saw this fire all around and everything was burning. While it could be hard to let go and surrender everything and let it burn, the fire was exactly what was keeping the wolves at a distance and preventing them from devouring people. Our answer in this season is to let it all go, completely surrender to Him and walk in humility.
Lord, grow us in humility.
Help us to have this kind of relationship with you. We were made to walk humbly with You, help us
to become all that you desire of us.
1-3. Geoffrion,
Timothy, C. The Spirit-Led Leader: Nine
Leadership Practices and Soul Principles.
The Alban Institute, Herndon,
VA. 2005.
4-6, 8. Johnson,
Bill. The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and Why
We Can’t Live Without Him. Whitaker
House, New Kensington, PA. 2024.
7. Tsana, Strongs #6800.
Located at: Strong's
Hebrew: 6800. צָנַע (tsana) -- To be humble, to be modest. Last accessed: 11/11/24.
9-10.
Stanley, Charles. Desiring God.
You Are Not Nothing: Five Ways to Pursue Real Humility. November 15th, 2021. Located at: You Are Not
Nothing: Five Ways to Pursue Real Humility | Desiring God. Last Accessed:11/11/24.
11. Brother Lawrance.
The Practice of the Presence of God. May 1, 2004. Located at: Free
PDF: "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. Last Accessed 11/11/24.
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