"Who am I?"

Moses

So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" And God said, "I will be with you.  Exodus 3:10-12

Gideon

The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"  

"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."  The LORD answered, "I will be with you."    Judges 6:14-16

"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" 2 Samuel 7:18

Jeremiah

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you...

Amos

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 

Johah

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3

But the Lord would not leave Jonah alone, because the message he was sent to give would help Jonah himself. He learned to conquer his fear and to realize the Assyrians were loved by God as well as the Jews. He learned that God would be with him. Traditional writings say that Jonah stayed in Ninevah teaching the Assyrians about the one true God.

The Lord used all these men who were humble. They did not think too highly of themselves, but were amazed that God had chosen them for a service. I think this is always the type of people God uses. If we think we can do a job well - without God's help - he cannot use us for that job.

Do Not Be Wise in Your Own Eyes - Proverbs 3:7

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Matthew 23:12

Humility

by S. Baring-Gould M.A.

Isaiah, Ezekiel and the apostle John saw in vision the glory of heaven and the throne of God and near it there were four beasts "full of eyes within and without" - Revelation 4:8. That is to say the beasts saw all that was within them as well as all that was outside them.

We are full of eyes without. We see everything that is going on among our neighbors and a great deal which is not there also, but we have no eyes for seeing anything within. We know nothing of ourselves, our own faults, and our own errors.

We see every wrong thing done by a neighbor, we have eyes for this, but we see no wrong done by ourselves. We have no eyes for that.

We see all the weakness of others, we have eyes for this, but we see none of our own weakness. We have no eyes for that.

We see all the folly of others, we have eyes for this, but for our own stupid acts and words we are blind. We have no eyes for that.

It would be better if we were well supplied with eyes within, instead of so many eyes without. It would be better for our neighbors and it would be better for ourselves. 

In the gospel, we hear of the chief Pharisees watching Christ. They had eyes for that. They watched him to find something against him. But they themselves were hypocrites and perverters of the law and they didn't know. They had no eyes for this. End.

Let us ask God to put our eyes on ourselves and then on Him. May we all be humble when it comes to what we are.
 "I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." Psalm 16:2 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Who is the Greatest?

Many times in the gospels we are told Jesus' followers fought among themselves about who would be the greatest in the new kingdom. They thought Jesus was the Messiah who would overthrow the Romans and be king over Israel. They all wanted to be sitting next to him on his throne.

James and John even brought their mother to Jesus to ask for this. Jesus answered that it was not up to him who would sit next to him, but up to his Father in heaven. In the verses just before this, Jesus had told his friends he would be crucified. They didn't seem to believe this and still clung to their old beliefs.

Finally, they asked Jesus, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Jesus called a little child over and said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Humbles himself. The disciples were not humble yet. Still, Jesus stuck with them and showed them the way to humility. By his example and by the Holy Spirit they were changed. They did become humble. This is my prayer for me and for you.

Why Be Humble?

"Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right.
And teaches the humble his way."
Psalm 25:8-10

Humble people are open to learning from others. People full of pride think they know everything, or almost everything. They are irritated by instruction and want to run their own lives the way they see fit. I think we must be humble to go to God for help and salvation. It isn't that God requires it; it is that we must have it to feel our need of him.

We may not often think of God as humble. But I believe that describes a part of God's personality. Jesus left heaven, became a man and even washed his friend's feet. He humbled himself to die in public. I think that shows his humility.