Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxieties on him because He cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:6-7
A favorite nursery rhyme is the familiar tale of an egg that takes an unfortunate tumble. Most of you over 40 still remember it by heart:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Well, according to those who know about such things, this piece of wisdom is a relic hundreds of years old. Versions have appeared in eight European languages. In its primitive stages, however, Humpty Dumpty was a riddle. It asked the question, “What when broken, can never be repaired, not even by strong or wise individuals?” As we have learned—it’s an egg. Regardless of how hard we may try, a broken egg can never be put back together again. We simply have to live with the mess!
Today we have a Humpty Dumpty story in America—we have taken a great fall. In a sense, it’s a broken egg story but one that could have a different ending. In the nursery rhyme, “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again”—and that’s true. But that’s because Humpty’s repair depended on make believe people. I believe that God will put the pieces back together again, if as a church we’ll ask Him. Now that’s a tall order—not for God obviously—but for us.
I’ll have to admit that I am having difficulty getting used to the idea that many people in the world and now in our own country just don’t like America—in fact, they hate it! They don’t like our life-style, they don’t like our freedoms, they don’t like our material prosperity, they don’t like our religious values—and they’ll do anything to destroy us. I think we have all witnessed that dramatically these past months in our nation with the riots, looting, destruction, anarchy and lack of will on the part of those in authority to bring it to a halt, as they attempt to use it for political advantage.
In the face of all this, how does God want us to react—in like kind or in humility? God’s word through the apostle Peter says, go for the latter. To humble ourselves literally means, “to make ourselves lowly.” It’s in command form in this passage which doesn’t give us a choice. It’s God’s will being expressed. We are all such a proud people—so bent on doing things ourselves by our own strength, but one way to make ourselves lowly is to seek and admit that we need help. To a Christian that means asking God and we all know what that involves, it’s called prayer. Prayer admits that we can’t bring about change by ourselves. We need help that only God can provide. He wants us to give Him all of our cares, worries, solutions and concerns, knowing that He not only is aware of every one of them but cares about their solution, as well. We have to admit that we don’t have the answers—but He does!
In our digital age, prayer groups are forming all over our nation every week and you can join one on the internet. Better yet, however, why not start one at your church? Your pastor will thank you for it. My friends, our hope lies today not in the mantra, “Make America Great Again,” but in “May America Bless God Again.” Maranatha!
And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. — 1 Peter 5:10
To help us walk closer with God and to know Him better
