I find myself praying often lately for health and protection for my family and myself. It has also been a praise continually on my lips that my immediate family has been hedged in with extraordinary goodness. At the moment we know of no cancer or heart failure. I know nothing of the anxiety that comes from others trying to hurt me or my family. While life has not always been perfect and rarely how I would have painted it myself, I am overwhelmed by the blessings I find in every corner of my life. Gods goodness has visited me and His ear and hands have been attentive to my fervent requests.
In all of this I find the Spirit leading me to pray a request that extends from my honest plea for health and protection. It is a universal human tendency that when comfort and safety are secured that the arms and legs of service begin to slow. When humans cease to worry about their daily food and are no longer concerned with the wolf outside their door, a sense of apathy is prevalent. My sense of urgency let alone my dependency on God wanes when there is nothing to keep my senses sharp. In this I find that the prayer for health and security can be damaging to the follower of Christ unless coupled with a further request. Jesus teaches us to ask for our daily bread and protection from evil. He also teaches us to request His Kingdom to come. It this request that protects against the apathy of a comfortable life.
Kingdoms are established through the necessity of conquest. One cannot inhabit another land without first reconciling its people to the order of the new Kingdom. In this we find the great commission of Jesus Christ, "go into all the world and make disciples." Health and protection are good gifts from a loving Father. However, these gifts were not meant to keep one home but to assure safety on the highways and byways that would normally be too dangerous to tread. My request for comfort without a sense of urgency on the battle field of the faith is useless and the very antithesis of the Gospel. Gods provision of health and safety is something to cause the heart to boundless praise. It must also be the prayer prayed when in constant movement towards the very gates of Hell.
"The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom ; and humility comes before honor." (Proverbs 15:33)
"Before destruction a mans heart is haughty; but humility comes before honor." (Prov 18:12)
The second part of each of these proverbs have stopped my heart in my study. I began my journey into adult hood with the hopes that my mistakes would be few. After a decade of decisions in places of prominence I have understood that failure makes up a far larger portion of my life than previously anticipated. I had wrongly understood that a life with minimal mistakes would bring me honor. As mistakes have multiplied in my life in every area the concept of honor has become an unattainable goal. The Bible has something far different to share.
The first verse explains that wisdom is held in the hands of God. The attention paid to Him brings the humility of knowing He is in control. Honor then proceeds from an understanding of Gods sovereignty. The second verse begins with a negation. Those who have never experienced failure are prone to the pride that wells within a man when he believes he alone has accomplished a task. The Bible says that destruction is inevitably in this man's path and from it he will learn the humility of the knowledge of Gods sovereignty. From this path comes honor.
If the Bible is to be our teacher then the expectations of life must change from their outset. Honor does not come from always making the right decision. If this were the case then honor would belong to no man. Honor does not come with success. If this were the case then those who fell from success would view honor as something fleeting. Instead, honor is something that comes to a man when God is his end. It's the understanding that the day must begin and end with Gods instruction. He alone it's the one who brings lasting honor to our lives. This is an honor that relies not on circumstance but on proven character. The rich man may be called a fool and the poor man a man of honor. Circumstance has no bearing on those who seek the title of honor. Once again, the presence of God is ever redefining mankinds picture of success.
Daniel 4 recounts the humiliation of the great Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. First he was warned in a dream and then turned into an animal for 7 years. This story has caught my fancy many times in previous readings. I have always marveled that God would go to such great lengths to humble the greatest man in the earth. A smirk has always grown on my face when I think of the great king eating grass at the command of God. A warning to the proud and an exaltation of the great king of heaven.
However, today this passage speaks something far deeper to me. Of all the men who have ever walked the earth, I know of none other who was turned into an animal for his humiliation. I think it no coincidence that the humiliation came to the man who single-handedly built the greatest empire known. That this great empire saw its greatest advancement in the lifetime of Nebuchadnezzar makes him the perfect candidate for God to show His glory. It's not that other men had not been as prideful as Nebuchadnezzar, rather it is that no other man had built what Nebuchadnezzar had built. He was given the opportunity and skills to build a great empire and in turn much was demanded of him.
Today I sit in a humble position. No matter the cause, I am without a church to lead. I do not have a steady job. We have just welcomed a new child into our family. At the moment I am at the bottom of the food chain. However, I know what God has planned for me. Great opportunities await for great wealth and great influence as i seek to build a great church. Pride should not be the issue of my heart. But as I read this passage of great warning to those who seek to build great things, I am humbled by the immensity of my arrogance. Pride does not need assets with which to work. It has more than enough fuel within the heart of a man in which to light his entire body on fire. It is no coincidence that when a man has little, his chest swells twice the size than when he had much. My pride is seated in my perception of myself in relation to my perception of the world. Those things that I aught to have pride in, namely my position in Christ and the bounty of His grace, I have little observation. However, those lowly things such as money, respect, and comfort I make of utmost priority in the construction of my worth. Yes it has been in these lowly times when my mind has run far more rampant in the affairs of daily life than in my care for Gods eternal kingdom and my eternal home.
If I am to build great things for God, my pride must be effectually checked now. He must have final word concerning my worth. The things of this world must grow strangely dim if my next calling is to be of great worth and eternal significance. If these things do not happen. If my eyes cannot be taken away from the acceptance of man, then I have no need to be turned into an animal who's life is spent for today, I will have already become it.
