#DailyDevotion Humbling Yourself Is Trusting In God For All Good Things
James 4:6-10 6But He gives a greater blessing. And so it says: “God opposes the proud but is gracious to the humble.” 7Then submit to God. Resist the devil and he will run away from you. 8Come close to God, and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you doubters. 9Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
James gives us a different worldview, way of life and way of thinking as opposed to friendship with the world, jealousy and selfish ambition. That way of life leads only to death and destruction. The way James puts before us has the LORD giving a greater blessing.
What is that way? Humility. “God opposes the proud but is gracious to the humble.” Humility in this context is to submit to God. We are called to fear, love and trust in God above all things. Trusting in God, turning to him for every good for James says, 17“Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” Submitting to God is trusting him to take care of us and all our needs.
If we we are submitting to God we are resisting the devil, whom James says will flee from us when we resist him. Resisting the devil is not just saying no to his temptations. That is the way of the Law and will only increase the tension in us. It gives him a foothold. Hearing God’s promises, the Gospel, the good news that He does care for us and doesn’t keep up from any good thing. No need to discuss things with the devil. Jesus overcame temptation for us in the wilderness. When tempted we can appeal to Christ’s work for us and just tell the devil Jesus overcame him. You might remember Eve discussed things with the devil with the law and that just got us in trouble. The devil tries to tempt us that God cannot be trusted and He is keeping good things from us.
We can come close to God, who James says will come close to us when we do so, because we have the promise God cares for us. If we lack anything we just need to ask God. God will not turn us away when we come to him with his promises and trusting in them. Jesus is our guarantee of his great love for us. If we think the Lord is slow James reminds us in ch. 5, “You heard how Job endured, and you saw how the Lord finally treated him because the Lord is tenderhearted and merciful”
James calls us to live a life of repentance. Washing our hands, purifying our hearts, being miserable, mourning and crying over our sins where we have not trusted in the LORD Jesus is this repentance. Let us not treat our sins lightly but recognize how horrible they actually are. As we humble ourselves before the LORD Jesus confessing our sins, we have the promise he will lift us up. In Luke 14 Jesus says, 11“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” You need not fear humbling yourself with confessing your sins to God. For Christ’s sake He will forgive. Let God be God and quit trying to do His job. God will take care of you and lift exalt you in the proper season.
Heavenly Father, give us your Holy Spirit so we may look to you alone for all good things, repent of our self-sufficiency, jealousy, covetousness and selfish ambition, so we may draw close to you and be exalted by you in our humility. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.