Joy in humiliation

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.