The Right Seat

Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,and do not claim a place among great men;it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.

Proverbs 25:6-7 (NIV)

Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12, NKJV).

I have to tell you a little story. A few years ago I invited my sister to go to a Harvest Crusade. We arrived a little late. The ushers kept directing us higher and higher in the stadium until finally I could see that we would be sitting as high and far as you could get from the platform and the speakers. My heart sank. In a very pathetic silent voice I said, But, Lord, I have hoped and waited many years for my sister to say yes and come to something like this. And now how could it be that we get the very worst seat? In less than a second I heard the quiet voice of the Lord respond, But, Debbi, will you not rejoice? Here she is. She came, and she is not complaining about the seat. And then he pointed out, All the other people in the top row—are they not just as important as your sister?

Of course, Lord. I am so sorry. Thank you for setting me straight, and thank you that we do have a seat. It became one of those personal little moments, Father to daughter.

Well, seconds later my cell phone rang. It was my friend. She had saved us seats on the very first row. I had to say, Thank you, Lord, for humbling me, and thank you, Lord, that when I did get a good seat, it was a blessing from you.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Life sure is full of curveballs and detours. They may seem random, but when your life is in God’s hands, you can see his fingerprints in the details. Even a seat in a stadium can be a teachable moment. In this case, the position of the seat was not as important as the position of my heart. Will you take your disappointments to your Lord, then leave the final results to him? A humble seat can become a holy moment.

One Year Bible Reading

Jeremiah 16:16–18:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–5:3; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 25:6-8