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"Poppa, I Do!"


God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (I Peter 5:5c-7)

       Some people I've met describe God as delighting in our humiliation. Seeing us grovel in the dirt, they claim, makes God happy. If their only alternative is for God to accept our replacement of Him with ourselves, I suppose they're right, but it's a false dichotomy. God isn't limited to those two choices.
           Our being humble doesn't have to do with our making ourselves seem less in order to placate an insecure deity. It has to do with telling the truth. We are not God, not even close. I played violin as a kid. I could not compare myself with Lindsey Stirling, but I am closer to being in her league than in God's. That doesn't make me a piece of garbage in comparison to either. It just makes me, me. That's frightening enough.
           That is the first reason we should humble ourselves before God. The second is that it allows Him to lift us up in due time. Imagine a little girl wanting to climb into a chair. She is too small and weak to do it, but every time her poppa tries to pick her up, she hits, bites and kicks at him. "Poppa, I do!" God will wait for us to allow Him to place us on the throne with Christ.It is as we give up trying to be God and allow Him to be Himself that we will have the time to look around and realize that He cares for us.

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