SCRIPTURE:

46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Luke 1:46-56

REJOICE

Outlast with faithfulness. Those are the words that I heard God speak to me about three years into ministry at Wesley. I remember being frustrated with not having our own space and what not, and in the midst of all that frustration I heard those words. Outlast with faithfulness.

I don’t know about you but I try very hard to be humble. I’ll never forget when my superiors told me I needed to work on my humility. I disagreed because I felt like I was super humble. That self-awareness that led to conviction revealed that I have a long way to go on the journey of humility.

The first step to work on your humility is to acknowledge that you are not humble. The first sign that you are not humble is to think you are. Or is it? Stay with me it’s about to get tricky. What if working on your humility eventually pays off in your favor, in a “kill em with kindness kinda way?” I think it does. And today’s scripture is a perfect example of that.

Mary is confident and humble enough to recognize that God recognizes her humility. Is that arrogance?I don’t think so.

In my journey of humility and confidence I have found that the people who think you are arrogant are normally the ones who struggle with confidence themselves. So here’s Mary. A perfect balance. For Mary she is glad that God has seen her humble state. And she is thankful that God is now blessing her for her humility.

Maybe that’s how we should rejoice it. Maybe that’s how and why we should pursue humility. Because God always exalts the humble. It’s always easier to pursue something that’s difficult when you know it comes with a blessing.It’s like a light at the end of the tunnel. Except you don’t know how far the light is and how long it will take to get there. In the same way we should pursue humility never knowing when we will be blessed.

Now my struggle is “how do I pursue humility with a pure heart without the blessing in mind?”

Maybe just the fact that I got to this level in my pursuit of humility is humility. I don’t know. In the end…

Outlast with faithfulness. Seek humility. Honor others. And watch God bless you for it.

Make sense?