THE HONOR OF HUMILITY

God wants us to live humbled under His loving rule. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:5-6, God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. It’s the way to experiencing God’s best in our lives. It’s the way God blesses us.

How do we learn to live humbly under God’s love and leadership? We make use of opportunities to repent.

God gave opportunities to King Ahaziah to repent and humble himself before the Lord and worship Him as God. But he was stubborn and arrogant.

God allowed political difficulties to trouble Ahaziah.
When Ahaziah became king, the nation of Moab rebelled against Israel. This meant political trouble for Ahaziah. Since the days of David, Moab had been subject to Israel, but when the people of Moab realized that Ahaziah was a weak king they rebelled. The rebellion of Moab caused great political humiliation for King Ahaziah. But who was behind this humiliation? God. This was God’s plan to help Ahaziah humble himself and call upon the name of God to help him. Did political humiliation cause Ahaziah repent and call upon the Lord? No. So God dealt with Ahaziah in a different way.

God then allowed Ahaziah to experience economic trouble.
In 2 Chronicles 20 we find that Ahaziah entered into a shipbuilding venture with King Jehoshaphat. Both kings wanted to trade and make a lot of money with this great business venture that joined Judah with Israel. But Ahaziah was not serving God and so God was against him. God used this occasion to put economic pressure on Ahaziah. Ahaziah and Jehoshaphat had spent a lot of money to build these ships. They were no doubt counting on a great return on their investment. But instead they lost everything. Did this cause Ahaziah to repent? No.

God then dealt with Ahaziah in a personal way, by allowing his health to suffer.
Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. 2 Kings 1:2. We don’t know how it happened. Did he stumble? Was he drunk? Was this an accident? In any case, God allowed it to happen in an attempt to get his attention. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:11-13 (NLT) No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful. But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

God brings opportunities into our lives in order for us to give Him our attention once again. He allows things to cause us to turn back to Him, to walk closer with Him, to take our love for Him to the next level.