Only the Humble Survives

"Seek righteousness, seek humility, perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD" - Zephaniah 2:3

The people who have opposed God are those who trusted in themselves, in their own riches, their own buildings and power. Therefore God through Zephaniah sounds a warning: there will be utter and complete destruction of the proud, and neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD (Zep 1:18). Earth's riches and human strength would not be able to withstand God's intense judgment upon the proud nation.

Fast forward to Chapter 3 and the end of Zephaniah shows us a picture of who's left behind in the kingdom of God: only the humble survives. I will remove in your midst your proudly exultant ones. I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord (Zep 3:11-13). Thus God's people are in the end, the truly humble, the ones who trust and obey God while the proud are sieved out of the kingdom of God at the very end.

The only way to escape that fierce judgment is to follow the way of the LORD. Seek humility, He says.

It is no wonder that humility is so lacking in many of us who are still being transformed. Only Christ is perfectly humble, and Paul exhorts us in Philippians to see him as our example. He laid down his glory to suffer a death of servants, even death on the cross (Phil 2). And God exalted Him to the highest place. Thus Paul says, in humility count others more significant than yourselves (Phil 2:3), to put others' interests above ours.

This is always a hard thing to do, in our pride. How many churches would not split, how many relationships would be preserved if humility is practiced extensively! Yet by nature we want to win, be it arguments, popularity, recognition, and ultimately preserve our own pride. Nobody loves to lose and give in. Yet the example of our Lord Jesus shows us that to lose now is to win in the end. To be humble now is to be exalted and glorious in the end. This is the counter-cultural way of our King, and we as servants will do well to imitate Him. We need the Spirit's help to bend our rotten self-centered wills to possess Christlike, others-centered love.

Application
Humility is what I was thinking about in my latest quarrel with Q. Often times I find her reluctant to admit her mistakes and say 'sorry', while most of the time I would readily confess my mistakes and ask for forgiveness. Sometimes she would refuse to say while I wait for the apology. And sometimes she would say, "What do you want from me?" So I get either no apology at all, or insincere apologies. This shows that there is much pride left to mortify, by God's grace. The way of humility is to be God-dependent, and others-centered. We should not be afraid to apologize, and expose our sinfulness to each other. May God give us this mind of Christ.

Remember, ultimately, only the humble survives and lives with God.