“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” – James 4:10

Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord (3x)
(Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord)
And He will lift you up,
Higher and higher,
And He, (and He)
Will lift (will lift)
You up.

I’ve been singing these words since I was a tween around campfires in Michigan. Today I stopped to think about the meaning of them.

Being in the sight of the Lord determines a time. There is never a time that I am out of the sight of my Lord. He is omniscient, all-knowing, all-wise, all-seeing.

When I was in my teens I remember hearing a popular phrase used when groups, or couples would get in the car to go together. Someone might remind them, “Just picture Jesus sitting in the car with you. “ These gracious, well-meaning people intended to squash any inkling of character defiling activities that might be in the making by using this small, effective reminder.

Consciously humbling yourself to the authority of God is consciously putting Him in a position of authority over you. Acknowledging God’s authority is an act of obedience and God is pleased by obedience, He rewards it. He promises to exalt you in your humility.

The very nature of humility is not to draw attention to you, rather to pass it on. Humility doesn’t ask for credit but reflects it. Like a polished mirror is easier to see the beholder, we bear the image of God and reflect his likeness back to others.

We bear the image of God and reflect his likeness

God promises to exalt the one who works towards humility. In this selfie crazed, every man for himself world, humbleness isn’t necessarily seen as a strong trait. But God sees it and rewards it with exaltation, the very thing that many seek and humble people reflect back to God.

 

Many seek to be exalted, but humble people reflect it back to God