Dear Missionary Lady,
Category Ten – Humble Dependence
Suffering is too big for us. It is too hard. Maybe we can
muddle through some of the little stuff without too much trouble, but when the
major trials of life come, we quickly realize that we are too small and too
weak to handle them. We desperately need God’s help.
Even Jesus cried out earnestly to the Father during His darkest hours. “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death” (Hebrews 5:7). There is a right and a necessary Person to turn to when we are beyond ourselves. The beauty is that even when we don’t know how to pray, when there seem to be no words but only silent anguish, we can have divine help for our prayers themselves. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
In our times of deepest need, when we are desperately in need of divine help, God is waiting and willing to give that help. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). It is God alone who can be depended on in these desperate times, and it is God alone who is capable of giving the help that our souls need. “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me … notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me” (II Timothy 4:16-17).
Coming to God in our need is a demonstration of our humble dependence, but humility must involve more than just admitting need. It also must include submission to the One who will help us. Only He knows what is best, and He must be trusted to do the right thing. “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (I Peter 4:19). That might mean, as it did for Paul, that our suffering continues for longer than we choose. Paul prayed three times to be delivered from his thorn in the flesh, but God chose for him to remain under that torment. “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (II Corinthians 12:9-10). Humility means we must be willing to remain under the trial if He chooses to prolong it.
Suffering quickly reveals our weaknesses, sometimes to our deep chagrin. Suffering can be a needed reminder not to rely on our own strength. “Lest I should be exalted above measure. … that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:7,9). If anyone could have boasted about having strength to withstand suffering, it would be Paul. After listing his record of imprisonments, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, travel dangers, deprivations, etc., Paul chose not to glory in his superior resilience. Instead, he declared, “If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities” (II Corinthians 11:30). We can never wear our “success” in suffering as a badge of honor, but only as a testimony to God’s grace.
Any bit of victory and success that comes during our suffering is due to our great Savior. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). Our victories and escapes from disaster are divinely supplied. “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Corinthians 10:13).
Our role is simply to submit to God’s methods. We have to allow God’s plan to work out as He has designed it. “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:4). This involves remembering His Word and the instructions He has given. “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord” (Hebrews 12:5). For whatever situation we face, God’s Word has appropriate instruction.
The divine help we seek has a gentleness to it. The Helper we need has a heart of compassion, and He makes ways to comfort us in the midst of our suffering. “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you” (II Corinthians 7:5-7). “Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith” (I Thessalonians 3:7).
Ultimately, our humility must come to the place that Job’s did. Job finally recognized his extreme insignificance and the contrasting greatness of God. He completely silenced himself in submission to God’s plan. “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further” (Job 40:4-5). This humble response is exactly what is required to receive the enabling grace of God. “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble’” (James 4:6).
In the midst of suffering, God’s grace is needed in so many ways, and it is also granted in so many ways. I’ve heard grace explained as everything we need for everything we face. We often think of grace as an inner peace that enables us to walk through situations in a way that is humanly inexplicable. That can mean strength, peace, assurance, comfort, wisdom, guidance, or reprieve, but whatever the grace looks like, it comes when we humble ourselves dependently before God, our powerful, wise, and compassionate Helper.
“Dear Father, I absolutely cannot do this without Your help. I can’t do any aspect of it – managing the practical demands, possessing the needed wisdom, corralling my mood and emotions, having calmness and victory in my spirit, or even praying effectively. I choose to humbly submit to Your plan in each of its details, but I need Your help to maintain that spirit. Help me to look to You for the blessed outcomes that You have in mind. Grant that in no way would I exalt myself through this suffering, but rather that all the glory would be Yours. Thank You that You compassionately care for me and bestow the abundant grace that my profound weakness desperately needs.”
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
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