Humble Yourself | Robert & Kay Camenisch

We shouldn’t be surprised when people don’t act like Christians if they don’t know and follow Jesus Christ. I realize that. And yet, I’m often deeply grieved by the evil that is rampant in our culture. I want to fight to restore Judeo-Christian norms.

Wickedness abounds and is often championed. Disrespect for others is normal in the home and classroom, with abusive rants filling the airwaves and social media. Unspeakable immorality is now considered normal in circles throughout all socio-economic levels.

Life itself is considered expendable—through abortion industry, but also in popular video games that offer entertainment where you score points for murder. With the low value placed on life, we should not be surprised by the increase in mass shootings.

We may feel helpless to stop the evil, but God is not surprised. Nor is He defeated.

When I get disheartened about it, the Lord reminds me, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).

Nothing is impossible for God. Furthermore, through Him I have a voice. I don’t need a podium or TV show. I can make a difference from my closet. In the next verse God tells us His eyes and ears will be attentive to prayer (2 Chron. 7:15).

I can make a difference in a world filled with evil, not because of me, but because God is attentive to prayer.

So, I made a commitment to pray for our land. To pray for God to have mercy, and to open our eyes to know His love and discern between good and evil. I’ve prayed for a spirit of repentance to move across the land, for a turning back to God, revival, and more.

I started out strong, then realized I was no longer praying for our nation.

I again committed to faithful prayer, because I believe that needed change will come only when God turns hearts to Him.

And then re-commited—because, again, I failed to remain faithful to my commitment.

I believe the Lord showed me why I keep failing. I focused on the hope that if we pray and seek God’s face He will hear, forgive our sins, and heal the land. After all, He promised, and boy, do we need healing.

I prayed (in spurts), but I hadn’t noticed the little two-letter word, “if,” at the beginning of the verse. “If My people . . . will humble themselves, and pray . . ..”

Neither had I considered what it means to humble myself.

To humble oneself means to be meek, poor, bowed down, afflicted, or oppressed. The definition I think fits best is “to bring self into subjection.”

Humility is in contrast to pride. There are several Old Testament words for pride with similar overlapping meanings, such as to be arrogant, insolent, presumptuous, and exalted. One definition explains further that pride is “an insolent and empty assurance which trusts in its own power and resources.”

Looking more closely at my situation, I saw that my prayer time wasn’t a priority for me. I allowed myself to too easily be pulled away by other demands or interests. I sometimes interrupted my prayer to pursue trivial pursuits.

In short, I discovered in me “an insolent and empty assurance which” sought its own agenda. Or, as another definition noted, I had “an impious and empty presumption which trusts in the stability of earthly things.”

It’s difficult to admit I was insolent, arrogant, or that I trusted in the stability of earthly things, but I certainly chose to follow earthly pursuits that have no eternal significance—rather than giving myself to a task that could impact a nation, maybe even eternity.

Why did I languish in my commitment to pray? Because I didn’t humble myself. I followed my own inclinations rather than subjecting myself to the Lord.

In church, we pray weekly, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and then I come home, seek my own will, and “follow the impious and empty presumptions.” (Does ‘hypocrite’ come to mind?)

The state of our culture tells me I’m not alone. The lack of change is a report card on the church. IF we who are called by His name will humble ourselves, seek His face, and pray, . . . if we do, we’ll turn from our wicked ways. THEN He will hear and heal the land. God promised.

But the promise begins with IF. If we subject ourselves to His will.

If we truly want His will to come on earth as it is in heaven, is it so difficult to subject ourselves?

Praying is the hardest discipline of my life. As I seek to subject my will to God’s and pray, I’m tempted to stray in thoughts and actions. What does it say to my loving heavenly Father when I choose to pursue my mundane desires instead of Him?

If my malady is part of an epidemic in the church, it’s no wonder we are surrounded by evil.

What would it take for our nation to turn to God, know His love, and bring glory and honor to His name? What if the only thing preventing it is that I’m not subjecting myself and seeking His face?

Oh, Lord, forgive me for the pride that resists subjecting myself to You. Give me eyes to see when I’m exalting myself, the will to submit, and faith to choose You in all things. Help me to seek Your face and to pray earnestly and consistently according to Your will. Oh, God, draw all men unto You and heal our land.

Conflict often erupts unexpectedly. A minor misunderstanding can lead to a caustic response with further back and forth. Before you know it, strife fills the air. Relationships are often strained and families destroyed over minor issues that escalate out of control.

I can’t stand to be in the midst of such a clash, but more often than I’d like to admit, I’m partly to blame for the escalation. It happens before I realize it. If someone pushes against me, I tend to push back. Pushing back increases the conflict.

The Lord called us to be peacemakers. With that in mind, years ago, I posted on the refrigerator a small cross-stitched reminder saying “A soft answer turns away wrath” (Pr. 15:1). I hoped it would help me control my responses when I was challenged or offended.

At the time I couldn’t tell that it helped me control my tongue, but it did keep me aware of the need. Consequently, I think the Lord has shown me a key to solving the problem. Maybe it will help prevent such conflicts as well helping to de-escalate once tensions are flaring.

In 1 Samuel 17 when David’s eldest brother, Eliab, heard David ask what the reward would be for killing Goliath, he became very angry. He asked why David came to the battle and suggested that David had deserted the sheep to come. He also accused him of being proud and insolent (1 Sam. 17:26-28). Eliab challenged David in front of other soldiers.

The normal response to such an attack would be to push back, to defend yourself, and set the record straight. Eliab’s comments were a textbook set-up for strife, but that didn’t happen. Instead, David’s response eventually led to David being taken before King Saul.

David simply asked Eliab, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause (or question)?” (1 Sam. 17:29) .David knew he was innocent of the charges, but he didn’t try to defend himself. Neither did he blame Eliab or try to tear him down. He didn’t push back.

Instead, he asked, “What have I done?” The literal translation of “Is there not a cause or question?” is , “Is it not a word?” or “Do we not have a word?”

David was referring to God’s word that He would be their provision and protection. In Genesis 15:1, God told Abraham, “I am your shield and your exceeding great reward.”

But David didn’t even wait for an answer. He then changed the subject and asked someone else what would happen to the one who killed Goliath.Those around him heard David’s comments as statements of faith.

He had experienced God as his shield. While watching the sheep, he had killed a lion and a bear. Because Goliath was uncircumcised—not in covenant with God—David knew God would protect him and give him victory. His confidence in the Lord also gave him peace when his big brother attacked. He didn’t let it distract him from the important matter at hand.

To David, it wasn’t about him. He was not deterred from the truth that God would deliver Israel from Goliath because Goliath was challenging the children of God.

When we stand up and fight for ourselves (or our opinion, the truth, etc.), we proceed into the fray on the assumption that it’s about us. We react as if we have to protect our reputation or have to fix what we perceive as the problem. Conflict within us—which leads to pushing back—is caused by our self-centeredness. Basically, we’re thinking too highly of ourselves—and possibly denying God and His commitment to be our shield and reward/provision.

Our efforts to have a soft answer will continue to fail as long as we see Self as the solution. In Philippians 2:3 Paul said, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Likewise, when I had, “A soft answer turns away wrath” on the refrigerator, I was relying on Self-control to solve the problem.

Our normal vision is limited to our own perspective. We need the Lord’s help to look out for the interests of others and not have selfish ambition. We need to choose to humble ourselves, but we can’t change our hearts. We need God in all of life, even in learning to be lowly of mind so that we “esteem others better than” ourselves.

The answer is humility. Humility doesn’t elevate self. Humility trusts the fix to the Lord, and trusts Him to be our shield and our reward.

We have the perfect example to follow. Paul says it well.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:5-8).

Jesus humbled Himself. He gave up equality and reputation and chose instead to be a bondservant.

Are you tired of conflict and tension over minor issues? The answer is humility.

Jesus said we’re to take up our cross daily to follow Him (Lu. 9:23).. In other words, we take up an instrument of death. We die. Every day. We die to self-defense, and selfish ambition. When we are dead to self, it is not difficult to consider others as more important than we are

The good news is, as we die to self, the conflicts will decrease.

The really good news is that the Almighty God will reward us accordingly.

Because Jesus humbled Himself, “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, . . . and every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11)

If our goal is peace instead of conflict, and we choose to follow Jesus’ example to reach that goal, we won’t be exalted like Jesus, but our reward will be greater than we can imagine.

Robert & Kay Camenisch encouraging and equipping relationships

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