Bow Down; Be Lifted Up

Bow Down; Be Lifted Up, July 28
Author: Charles H. Spurgeon From the book: Faith's Checkbook

"Humble yourselves therefore order the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" - 1 Peter 5:6

This is tantamount to a promise: if we will bow down, the LORD will lift us up. Humility leads to honor; submission is the way to exaltation. That same hand of God which presses us down is waiting to raise us up when we are prepared to bear the blessing. We stoop to conquer. Many cringe before men and yet miss the patronage they crave; but he that humbles himself under the hand of God shall not fail to be enriched, uplifted, sustained, and comforted by the ever-gracious One. It is a habit of Jehovah to cast down the proud and lift up the lowly.

Yet there is a time for the LORD's working. We ought now to humble ourselves, even at this present moment; and we are bound to keep on doing so whether the LORD lays His afflicting hand upon us or not. When the LORD smites, it is our special duty to accept the chastisement with profound submission. But as for the LORD's exaltation of us, that can only come "in due time," and God is the best judge of that day and hour. Do we cry out impatiently for the blessing? Would we wish for untimely honor? What are we at? Surely we are not truly humbled, or we should wait with quiet submission. So let us do.

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Humbling oneself is not something we want to hear or be asked to do - but we need to remember that we are asked to do so. The LORD desires us to be humble and contrite, ready for His guidance and word in and out of season. If we think too highly of ourselves, we will surely miss that which God has asked of us. If we put ourselves above others, we miss the blessing of serving our neighbor with an open heart. Let us be humbled and submit to the Father who is the author and finisher of our Faith and knows exceedingly more than we do and remember that we are His children. Grace&Peace.