25 April 2013 - cast, removed

25 April 2013 - cast, removed

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time.
Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

Here we see part of why humility is so good.  We must become too small to carry our problems on our own.  Humility means knowing that without God we can do nothing.  The world thinks being powerful is great.  It values being effective and having everything under control.  Humility knows this is an illusion.  It recognizes that by worry we cannot add one hour to our lives (cf. Mat 6:27).  The more the world tries to carry on its own apart from God the greater the burden that eventually drags it down.  Humility does not need to have the source of success within itself and so it casts each and every care upon Jesus.  We are able to do this when we recognize that he cares for us.  It is this care which moves us from despair in our own resources to confidence in him.

Humility is also the secret to seeing our suffering transformed.

The God of all grace
who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
after you have suffered a little.

Note that our part is to suffer a little.  It is God who will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.  We don't have to struggle  It is the difference between trying to heal ourselves and trusting in the divine physician.  If we trust him, suffering will not move us because we know that he is doing everything for our good.

Humility is the sine qua non of evangelization.  No matter how clever or well reasoned our efforts we have absolutely no power to convert others.  Jesus does want to use us but he wants our obedience much more than our skillfulness.  The Holy Spirit has all the power he needs to make his own case if we aren't too busy with our own ideas to let him do so.

But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

Without humility we eventually turn out to be preaching ourselves and not Jesus (cf 2 Cor 4:2-5).  We are more interested in pride based on our cleverness than on spreading the gospel.  This can infect both our corporal and spiritual works of mercy. At times when we are tempted to rely on ourselves let us take the time to revel in the utter uniqueness and greatness of our God.  We can't expect to be motivated by it if we don't take the time to behold it.

For who in the skies can rank with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the sons of God?

Ultimately, we want know and share the joy that comes from knowing the LORD and walking in his presence.

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.

Let our aim be to walk in the light of his face and to shout with joy to his name together with all mankind.  The LORD lives in the praises of us people (cf Psalm 22:3). Let us all forever sing his goodness.