June 18, 2024

Passage Read: Jeremiah 45-48
Meditation Verses: 48:11-12

Thought

It is easy to think much of oneself when you have never been tested. It is easy to think you are very strong when you have never been attacked. Moab sat undisturbed for so long that they became very prideful. They thought they were so wonderful and powerful, but they had not been tested or tried in a very long time. They had not experienced anything difficult in ages. Being knocked about, being troubled and defeated helps greatly in humbling a man and a nation. Trials are needed in order to remind someone how weak they really are, and how desperately they need the Lord. Yet it is amazing how resilient we can be. Even when completely defeated, we can think very highly of ourselves, instead of seeing how weak and needy we are.

Application

I need to be grateful for all the trials and defeats and failures in my life, because if I accept my humble state and learn more clearly how weak and helpless I am, then I will be guarded from pride, especially the kind that can no longer hear rebuke. The Lord delights in the humble and contrite, so it is far better to be lowly and know it, than to think I'm something significant and important.