1 Peter 5:6 (NIV) Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Something that a lot of people on this earth live completely ignorant about is how much our egos affect everything we do. History is littered with tragic events that were instigated by the insidiousness of someone's ego. Whenever it really gets out of control in someone, it produces a madman (or madwoman). Unchecked ego ultimately leads to great perversity and insanity. The scary thing about all of this is that every human being on earth suffers from it. Marriage bonds are broken, family relationships are damaged and friendships are destroyed, and the common denominator is always pride and ego. Another truth that is ominous is that there is no earthly cure for it. The only cure is a supernatural one.

In the verse of scripture above, the Word of God tells us to do something that many people refuse to do. Even people who consider themselves Christians will not humble themselves under God's mighty hand. As a matter of fact, few do and from the ones that do, it is a limited humbling. Let me explain. If we, as followers of Christ, would actually fully humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, then we would obey everything that He says...including the hard parts. What hard parts, you may ask? Mostly all of God's Word but more specifically the commands that Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5,6 and 7). The things spoken by Jesus there are nearly if not totally impossible for us to do on our own. They are that way because they get at the very thing that is our downfall: our ego (and pride). When someone takes your shirt, your first inclination is not to give them your coat as well. When someone forces you to carry their stuff for an entire mile, you most certainly will not volunteer to carry them for another mile (Matthew 6:40-41). But why would you want to do those things anyway? What is so wrong with having some pride and having a healthy ego?

What's wrong with those things is that they are the antithesis of who God is, and because they are, they corrupt our hearts and souls. Jesus said that He was gentle and humble of heart, the exact opposite of our humanity, which is infected by a sinful nature. Pride and ego are what turned the angel, Lucifer, into the most vile and wicked being in existence. Those same things live in us because of sin and as was already mentioned, we have all experienced the destruction of relationships and things because of our egos. That's why the safest place to be is to be in humble submission under God's mighty hand. That mighty hand is not there to press down on you or to crush you, but rather to protect you from yourself and from the evil influence of Satan and of the world. That position will cause you to see things differently and to react differently when things go wrong. It's what will keep you loving someone when they make a mistake and what will lead you to forgive someone seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:22). In doing things like this, which is what Jesus did when He was here on earth, you will find the peace in your soul that perhaps has eluded you for a long time. Maybe the joy that should be yours as a follower of Christ has been missing because you have not found the perfect place of safety for your heart and soul, which is under God's mighty but merciful hand. Make the covering of God's mighty hand your dwelling place. As you do, you will not only be safe from your sinful nature, but He will also lift you up in due time to help others to come under the safety of humble submission before their God.

Pastor Joey Vazquez