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The Bible taught us the Lord chooses the foolish things
of the world to shame the wise and chosen the weak things of the world to shame
the things which are strong (1 Corinthians 1:27) and I never really understood
it until now.
In all of God’s wisdom and mercy, it is fully
understandable and reasonable and it makes perfect sense why it is so, when the Lord gave me the following understanding
based on these few familiar verses….
For once, the foolish and the weak have nothing in themselves
to either offer or to boast, therefore when the Lord uses them for His glory,
these people have no chance or reasons in boasting in themselves. These are the ones whom God will use most mightily
in His Kingdom because they are the humble ones and the Lord taught us saying
that He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Paul also explains
in the later verses of 1 Corinthians 1:28 – 31 saying, “and the base things of
the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He
might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God but by
His doing you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness
and sanctification, and redemption, that just as it as written, “LET HIM WHO
BOAST, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
The crux of the message is in Paul’s statement, “Let him
who boast, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31)
Men have the natural tendency for taking credits for themselves
the honour and praise that is due God and put the blame on God for things that
goes wrong. We forget that all wisdom and good gifts comes from the Lord,
including our wealth and our talents, therefore we should not be too quick to boast
about every success that we experience. I suppose that’s why the Lord opposes
the proud, because they become self-centred. And sin is always the result of
self-centredness, when everything is about I, me and myself – my glory, my
success, my reputation, my wealth, my name… Christ is not the centre of it all
but ourselves making “Me” the biggest idol. That’s why Proverbs 16:18 warns us, “Pride
goes before destruction and a haughty spirit, before stumbling.”
It is easy to be become humble in your failures but it is
difficult to remain humble in your success. However, the world defines success differently
from the word of God. The world defines success with the amount of money you
make, the house you live in, the job you hold etc, where else in the eyes of
God, success is define in your commitment, faithfulness and obedience in Christ
at all costs.
If success is dependent on how much money you make and
all the measures of worldly materials, than Jesus and all His disciples by definition
are considered utter failures, because they do not have all of these. We have
become so obsessed with being rich materially, that we overlook the importance
of being rich spiritually. That’s why Jesus taught us in Matt 16:24-26, “If
anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses
his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he
gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul?”
We must remember, “For we have brought nothing into the world,
so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering,
with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into
temptation and a snare and may foolish and harmful desires which plunge men
into ruin and destruction for the love of money that is the root of all sorts
of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and
pierced themselves with many a pang (1 Tim 6:-610), and all these stems from
one root word - greed.
The bible says very clearly that God opposes the proud
and give grace to the humble. So let us always remember to be humble, not despising
the foolish or the weak (for these are the ones God uses to shame the wise and
the strong) and most importantly keep away from greed. For the Lord promises
us, “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what
you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you, nor will I ever
forsake you.” So we can say confidently, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be
afraid, what shall man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
God bless you
Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle –
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King
