The Pattern of Humility
Blessing and Trouble!
We need to be careful on which side of the "U" we are at. We can easily get our hopes up if we find much blessing and reward and not realize that we are being encouraged before we run into a difficult time of humbling. Think about Jesus' case.
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We see two very special times in Jesus' life. The one was His anointing from heaven with the dove at His baptism. The other is at His transfiguration. Both times He experienced heavenly visions and special anointing. In the second case, we can literally see that it was a mountain top experience!
Two
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A Wonderful Experience |
A Difficult Trial |
The AnointingMark
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And it came about in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased." |
And immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him. (Mark 1:12-13). |
The TransfigurationMark 9:1-8;9-13 |
And He was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power." And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" And all at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. |
And as they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the dead. And they seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead might mean. And they asked Him, saying, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And He said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? "But I say to you, that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him." (Mark 9:9-13). |
Each time Jesus received special grace, He soon experienced a very difficult time. With the announcement from heaven at His baptism came forty serious days of testing and fasting. After the heavenly announcement on the Mount, we see Jesus staring squarely at the path of the cross. It is like He turned a corner and now could see what He had to endure. He immediately began to share it with His disciples and used John the Baptist's experience to help them picture what was going to happen to Him.
We need to learn from these two examples. God, at certain times, will work in special ways in our lives. We should not read this as an end to our trials but a boost to get us through the next trial coming up.
The scriptures seem very deliberate in pointing out that with deep and beautiful spiritual experiences, they can be seen as a reward for faithful living. More than likely, there is a deeper significance. They are readying us for more difficult trials ahead. Our Father knows how to prepare His children for difficult times. He does not send them out ill-equipped. He strengthens us such that He has the confidence to say,
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:13).
We must remember that our humbling experience does not end until we reach the heavenly shores. For as many ups we have, we will also have humbling times. He is sure to give grace, but we must go on.
Humble, not Proud: A Biblical series on Humility |
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| The Pattern of Humility | Moses & Humility | |
| Kinds of Humility | Pride replaced with Humility | |
| Jesus, Pioneer of Humility | Humility in Ministry | |
| Humility and Leadership | Steps towards Humility | |
| Dying to Self | Testimonies on Humility |
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| Righteousness, not Compromise |
Grace and Graciousness | |
| Truth, Not Deception | Faith and Faithfulness |
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| Goodness and Contentment | Fear God, Fear not Man | |
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