Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, January 19, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Humility: The acceptance of the fact that I am not God. In yesterday’s text we explored the origin of evil—the knowledge of our own mortality and the reprehensible things we do in order to try to prevent it (impossible) or at least put it off as long as we can. This is all an attempt to be our own god—to rely on ourselves because we no longer trust God to take care of us.
While I don’t believe God deliberately tests people, I do believe that life’s challenges can lead/push us to a place where we have no choice but to rely on God because we simply cannot succeed at being gods in our own lives.
The story of the exodus of God’s people from Egypt and into the wilderness for 40 years is all about reliance on God. It was God who called and equipped Moses, God who demonstrated the necessary power for the pharaoh to let the Hebrews go, God who opened the sea for the people to pass to safety, God who provided water and food in the desert. By the time they were ready to move to the next phase of their lives in the promised land, they had been fully relying on God for so long that they had the humility to recognize they weren’t calling the shots. (Of course it didn’t last, but those are stories for another time.)
Everyone has challenges in their lives, big and small. Every challenge we face is an opportunity for us to step back and ask God to guide and care for us. Rather than throw all of our willpower at a problem, trying to be our own god and force solutions in our favor, we can have the humility to recognize that we need help and then ask for it, trusting that God is present with us in all things and will lead us through whatever wilderness surrounds us.
Where do I have an opportunity to develop humility and rely on God today?
