“Farewell my brother,” I bid him. Tears welled from my eyes and started flowing. I sobbed. I could not keep my heart from grieving knowing what awaited him in that dungeon. What could have happened had John kept his mouth shut? Could he have live a little bit longer? Could he have disciple more men? Those questions were coming to me like rushing waters. But I bet, it is not the will of the Lord that this man should live the way I thought of him. Even Paul could have lived to be 90 years old or even more if the Lord had saved him from the martyrdom that has befallen him. What more, Jesus who died when He was about 33 years old could have done more if He lived on earth for 100 years old, don’t you think it? At least in our human judgment it could have been better for them. “Go home son, go home and do not cry for me. Believe in the Son of God, I must decrease but He must increase. Seek the riches from above and walk with Him who owns the heavens and the earth.lies. Do not look back.”

Those were his parting words. He exuded calm in the midst of his arrest and even now that he is alone in his dungeon, he still considers us more than he cares for himself. No wonder, the Lord has chosen this man for this type of work. As I walked out of Herod’s dungeon I continued to recall the words of John, there was no remorse in his fate; he had accepted humbly what the Lord has given him. For him, to do the things that please the Lord is his manna. “I have come to do thy will Oh God, send me!” is not just the constitution of the Son of Man but everyone who had resigned their will and surrendered it to the One who loved them most. They were assured that God can deliver them, that His promises were not simply lock up somewhere but is fulfilled and on the way. I thought of the many times I have tried to promote myself, rather than trying to be humble, I also chose the path of self-exaltation.

Self-promotion wreaks havoc

Many of those who did it never came back to the path of life because their eyes have become so focused to their own that they forgot altogether about their brethren who need help. Those who had promoted themselves are often those whom the Lord has to abase, and those who were abased were promoted. As it is written “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). The New Covenant ministry is not only a ministry that is defined by the lack of ‘Thou shall nots’ but all of the laws were summed in one word, love. In order for someone to be humble, he has to see beyond what is happening now and beyond what is in himself. Love grows and increases as we learn to abide in the One who has summed everything in Himself, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).

As I continued to romp forward away from the dungeon I remembered Moses. He wrote that he was the humblest man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). Not one bit of insecurity or feelings of inadequacy could be seen in that person’s confession. He was writing Scripture and the Lord had inspired him to write so of himself, as the humblest man on earth. One can be really humble and not really know it and another one can be really proud and yet think of himself as abased. But the Scriptures tell us to humble ourselves, and if it does, it is only because we can truly know it the moment we try to humble ourselves and the moment we try to walk in presumption. Pride is walking in presumption, that we are adequate by our own power and stipulation without need for the Spirit of the Lord to lead us. We are exhorted to humble ourselves like a child who is ever dependent on His parents because the Lord wants us to walk in complete dependence with Him.

To know God by our own wisdom and power is actually presumptuous but to know Him according to His power, to His energizing Spirit is another case. Not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord that we conquer the world and the things in the world. The humble He teaches His way and gains rewards but the proud He reserves to dishonor and destruction. He leads them to justice, delivers them from evil and inclines his ear to their petitions.

“When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence,

And the humble person He will save. (Job 22:29)

O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear (Psalm 10:17)

He leads the humble in justice,

And He teaches the humble His way (Psalm 25:9)

But the humble will inherit the land

And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. (Psalm 37:11)

When pride comes, then comes dishonor,

But with the humble is wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)

A man’s pride will bring him low,

But a humble spirit will obtain honor. (Proverbs 29:23)

“For My hand made all these things,

Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD.

“But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:2)

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:5-7)

Benefits of humility

Trouble oftentimes ensues because of our unbroken will. We try to read the Bible, even memorize verses but we do it out of obligation and not out of passion. Some even take it as if God is merely the Gift giver. Others still take it and distort its meaning aspiring to be teachers but are transformed to ravening wolves because they teach by pleasing men instead of giving the whole counsel of God that is approved. What more, some think also of the Scriptures as if a tool to whack the head of God, “hey God this is what your Word says, you prosper me!” Some even have the boldness to give commands to the Lord, as if He was their servant. Many have forgotten that they are children and that they are also bought as His slaves to do His will and not their will. Whatever happened to His Lordship in them? A troubled conscience rises up in our hearts when the peace of the Lord does not guard it.

Keep your conscience clear and God will protect you, for the intended harm of others cannot touch the man whom God wishes to help. If you know how to suffer in silence, you will undoubtedly experience God’s help. John, even in his affliction chose to know God, chose to suffer for the sake of the Son of God. Because he knew that God knows how to deliver the godly out of sorrow and pain. Trust is a word that has fallen to the ground these days, trampled by men whose untrustworthy words have caused the sufferings of many. Yet in the Lord there is deliverance and refuge because He is trustworthy. His Word remains a solid anchor during shaky times.

God hears the humble

When a man humbles himself, the Lord readily looks at him, hears his petition and even keeps His anger away from that man. But humility needs to be understood well, it is not feelings of insecurity or inferiority because of his faults or by appeasing others to appear good to them. Humility is in consideration of truth. It is also not merely feelings; rather, the simplest definition is walking with God in the most dependent way. Moses became humble because he learned how to depend on God for his provisions, how he stopped trusting in his flesh and started looking at God for deliverance and the freedom of His people. Carnal ways begets carnal results but those who walk in the Spirit also begets the fruit of the Spirit.

God only bestows His grace to the humble because He could trust them with His power and provision. He returns to those who have learned to abased themselves and upon them bestows great grace so that after their humiliation He may raise them up to glory. To these ones He could reveal His secrets and bid them to come to Him. Thus, the humble man enjoys peace in the midst of conflicts and chaos in this world because His trust is in God, not in the world. Hence, our maturity comes only when we have stopped comparing ourselves and started looking at God for our own adequacy and enjoyment.