You know how some people say, “With all due respect,” right before they rudely air their grievances about you? Behind that “due respect” is the intention to disrespect you without consequence. I’ve done the same thing with God. Instead of “respect,” I say “with all humility” before pridefully telling God that He was mistaken to call me and would be better off choosing someone else. Behind that “humility” is a desire for pride without consequence. It is the permission to think I know better than God. It is a confidence that can’t be brought down, that I’ve successfully hidden my weaknesses, fears, and alternative desires from God.
Pride may seem like a strong, if not possibly the wrong word. But anywhere that my will can’t yield to God’s because of my preference is pride. Any guarding of reputation or status quo against the will of God is pride. It is a boasting, even if it’s a boasting in my perceived weaknesses. In a culture that leans towards pride and ego, it’s unsurprising that stories in the Bible when individuals are resistant to their callings are often labeled as honorable and evidence of humility. But God never treats it as such. Instead, God does things like telling them not to say it or even growing angry.
I get that a lot of people feel this way, but at some point, if God is really all that we believe Him to be – Lord, creator, Father, all-knowing, and all-powerful, then He has to be right about who we are and what we can be transformed into. He modeled a transformation that all creation couldn’t have imagined when Christ was born into humanity. Jesus sacrificed His nature to obey God’s calling to become our savior. How grand of a feat to wrap God in flesh. It’s like wrapping a star in a light bulb or encasing the ocean in a raindrop. The magnitude of the transformation should not go unnoticed especially since we are like Him, chosen because God knows exactly the significance that He’s wrapped in the mess of our lives. You are immeasurable, remarkable, and unlimited. Don’t let the casing blind your perspective.
If we call him our God, then we are his temple and there are hints in us that point to what God created us to be. Every symbol in a temple matters in ways we don’t always understand. Images that point to Eden and ultimately to heaven. And in us are engravings we don’t always understand. Personality quirks, seasons of our lives, and dents in our expectations, circumstances, and preferences are pointing toward something greater that only God understands fully. The more the temple is surrendered to His presence, the more God walks around pointing at the smallest of details, saying this is what it means, what it was placed for, and its intended purpose. The longer God dwells within us, the more doors He opens that He alone has the key to unlock. There are passageways only the Spirit knows the combination to reveal, the correct pressing of our courage, our fears, and our passions to release the gifts that are perfectly used in God’s hand. God transforms us into someone uniquely equipped to handle the call we are running from. Today, just say yes. It takes humility to obey.
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