What will drive me from pride to humility?

2 Chronicles 33:1-18While in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.

Unfortunately, when we prosper and all is well, we may fall into pride, thinking we have achieved it all. But when we are brought down financially, physically, or in other ways, we suddenly find it necessary to seek the Lord’s help.

Jeremiah 29:10-13This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

Because of Israel’s repeated pride and disobedience, God allowed them to be conquered by Babylon and taken into exile for 70 years. However, the purpose of this exile was to inspire them to humility and seeking God. Sometimes, God uses difficult times to humble us and draw us back to him.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Sometimes God uses our weaknesses to humble us and strengthen our relationship with him. We may hate how helpless and powerless our weaknesses make us feel; but when we recognize how powerless we are, God’s power becomes more evident in our lives. We don’t know what Paul’s “thorn” was, but we know that despite it—and because of it—God worked great things through his life.