Humbling Ourselves

2 Chronicles 7: 11-14
When Solomon completed the temple, God spoke to him. He told his servant of times of hardship and drought- a precursor to famine. The Lord also told of the possibility of locusts or plagues coming onto the land. But, He also told Solomon and, by extension, us how the land can be healed.

The first point God makes is that he is talking about His children, not the heathen or the vile people of the neighboring areas. If my people, who are called by my name. . .. Can it get any clearer?

He then lays out conditions for His people to follow. First we have to humble ourselves. What does that mean to us today?

Can we remember, as children, looking up at our dads or even our uncles and thinking ’‘He's the biggest (tallest) person I know’? When we compared ourselves to that man, we felt very small. When we approach God we need to realize that we are puny, powerless creatures. We need to tell Him we can do nothing without His guidance, direction, or help. While He knows this, we have to acknowledge and accept our helplessness.

Also, we have to recognize we are not to play ‘one-up-man-ship’ with our fellow human beings. We all face hardships, hurts, trials, and tribulations in our lives. No one is exempt from these travails. We have hard times enter our lives because we are human. Also, they manifest themselves because we live in a fallen world. Sometimes, we have made bad choices.

In the act of humbling ourselves, we see our place in the scheme of things. We also see who God is. It is through this process that we grow spiritually.