Lifted Up
In James 4:10, we’re told, “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, He will lift you up and give you honor.”Does that mean that if I just humble myself, my day will come? The promotion for which I was passed over will one day be mine? The house-of-many-problems will turn into my dream house? I’ll get to fly First Class, for once?
When I heard that verse quoted in church one Sunday, I left the building for a minute…mentally. I pictured standing before the Lord in His throne room. I kneel before Him and mumble something that sounds like, “I am Your humble servant.”I’m on my face before Him with renewed understanding of who He is in all His majesty and power…and who I am with majesty and power to the negative ten! And then, He steps down from His throne and stands over where I am bowed, puts His finger under my chin, and lifts my head. With love and gratitude in His eyes, He places His hands under my arms and brings me to my feet. “Come here,” He says, pointing to a velvet chair beside His throne. “Let’s talk.”“There?” I’m incredulous that the King of the Universe could possibly mean to have addressed me.“Would you rather sit on My lap?” He asks. And then I know how He responds to my humble surrender to Him. He lifts me up and gives me honor. Not the false or fleeting honor the world offers, but the honor of sitting in the lap of the King of kings.
PRAYER: Lord, I’m learning anew every day, in a deeper way every week, that Your ways are higher than mine, Your thoughts far higher than mine. Just when I think I have this faith walk figured out, You stun me with the reality of how much You love me, of Your majesty and intimacy intertwined. Thank You.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up,” James 4:10, KJV.
Today’s devotional is by Cynthia Ruchti, writer and producer of the radio ministry THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME and current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia’s debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home—releases from Abingdon Press in Spring 2010. Cynthia writes stories of hope that glows in the dark. www.cynthiaruchti.com.
