Ms. Humility!… Out of all of my teachers, I deem her to be the harshest. She is embarrassing and tends to go public. The one thing you thought you were good at, she can destroy in a matter of seconds. I picture her as this strict, “ruler in hand” angel sent from heaven, assigned to those who have been overtaken by the evil sea monster called the leviathan, whose scales and bodily structure, form the DNA of pride. I pray fervently she does not get assigned to me.
Whatever you do, do not think you are the most beautiful creature on the earth, because Ms. Humility holds obesity in the palm of her hand. We all know how hard it is to recover from obesity. It requires many miles on the treadmill and many laps in the pool, not to mention the weight training, yoga, and sugar deletion.
Although Ms. Humility is a harsh teacher, her beauty is in the fact that you never forget her lessons. She will help you remember who you can and can’t trust. She shows you the punch before you are blind sighted. She reminds you to examine your heart so that pride does not become rooted. She enables you to “make your words few”. She reminds you to give glory to God for your abilities, as she is after all, one of God’s many voices.
Still, I run from her. She makes me cry way too often and makes me feel weak. I pray to God every day that he will not assign her to me as a teacher. The problem with this is that in an effort to be humble, we just try too hard. We try to say just the right thing and sometimes we end up putting ourselves down. We say “It’s all about Him NOTHING about me.” But actually IT IS about you. Last time I checked, Jesus Christ died on the cross FOR YOU.
The son has set us free. He calls us to live in freedom. At some point that freedom calls us to blossom and grow! If we hide because we are fearful of Ms. Humility, how can we blossom? How will you ever be able to get out of the boat and walk on water? It’s not about whether you walk on the water or whether you sink! The God of the universe holds your hand either way. IT’S ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU GET OUT OF THE BOAT! QUIT HIDING! “He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.”
For many years Joshua learned under Moses. He saw Moses lead the Israelites across the Red Sea. He saw Moses climb Mt. Horeb to meet with God. He saw Moses come down from the mountain with the 10 commandments. Joshua followed the humblest man on the face of the earth, Moses was a friend of God. Yet Joshua saw Ms. Humility at work, when Moses was not allowed to go into the Promise Land because he disobeyed the word of the Lord. Can you imagine how crushing that was? How heart wrenching! One little mistake! But it was one mistake that was in front of all of Israel. So Joshua learned a lesson that Ms. Humility teaches well, “To whom much is given, much is required”. Did Joshua hide after he saw the harshness of Ms. Humility? It must have pained him to see Moses grieve over not being able to go into the promised land. His heart had to cry with Moses.
Yet Joshua stepped up to the plate. Moses dubbed him as the new “knight in shining armor” who would lead Israel across the Jordan. Joshua led Israel to conquer Jericho, the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites. Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Moses had trained him well. Joshua possessed his land with power. He was the new leader of Israel. He came forth when God said to come. “The force” was with him.
Esther was given much the same choice. She had a decision to make. She could either walk the red carpet, present herself to the king, and plead for her people or she could stay in her sub-castle and pray no one found out she was a Jew, while she watched her people be destroyed. She could have feared Ms. Humility. After all if the king did not put forth his scepter, she would have been chopped liver. Oh but NO! She used her full arsenal of God given remedies. She walked that red carpet, dressed to the “T”. Had “Entertainment Tonight” existed, they never would have stopped talking about it. The king extended his scepter to Ms. America. She then woooed the king with her beauty and grace. She fixed 3 amazing gourmet meals to fill his tummy and then she presented her case. Haman was hung and Israel was saved. The rest is history.
Esther and Joshua were called for “Such a Time As This”. Had they hid, and decided not to bloom, deliverance would have arisen from another place. BUT THEY WOULD HAVE MISSED AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO BE PART OF GOD’S PLAN! Who wants to miss that? Your age and your appearance are irrelevant! If God has called you to bloom, “Just do it”. If he has put you in a training stage, learn all you can learn. Be ready to bloom when He opens the door for you to do so.
Learn from Ms. Humility. But don’t hide and don’t be afraid. She actually has a sweet side much like Mary Poppins; and after you’ve learned your lesson, she smiles and flies away with her umbrella. Her work is done.
May “The Force” be with you… Until next time, or Once upon a time,
His Evening Star,
Natalie Foreverland