“The Humble Are Teachable”

“The humble are teachable.” Those are the words that are forever engraved upon my heart and mind.

Back in the last millennium, I had the privilege to sit under the Biblical guidance and teaching of a man of GOD named (Pastor) Laverne Romaine. He taught a small group of people who would come to hear him teach and preach in the middle of the morning on a weekday. It happened to fit into my schedule and was conveniently located next door to room in which I would volunteer for lunch service at my children’s elementary school.

Pastor Romaine was an elderly gentleman, referring to every woman in his path as “little lady.” He had long since been a widow and you could just hear the ache in his voice whenever he would describe memories of his late wife. He would reminisce with such a gleam in his eye, that you could tell how much he missed his dear wife.

I can vividly recall his teachings and one of his focal points was the fact that in order to learn, one would have to humble themselves under the lead of the teacher. Sounds pretty simplistic on the surface. But when applied to Biblical truths you cannot escape the magnitude of these precious four words.

He leads the humble in what is right,
    and teaches the humble his way. Psalm 25:9 ESV

For those of us who have ever tried to teach, show, guide or mentor another individual – whether a child or adult – we are familiar with the challenges and downright frustration that surface when the learner tries to argue or disprove or flatly refuse to listen to anything we say. And with all the energy in us, we can reframe, restate, reiterate and illustrate concepts and information until we are blue in the face, but if the learner refuses to listen or receive the information with a curiosity or humility, there is just no progress.

The same can be said when we are corrected by another individual, especially someone who has our best interests in mind but we refuse to accept the constructive feedback, or deny its necessity. It just all falls on deaf ears.

When we read passages in the Bible where GOD specifically gives a command and we see that the people He was talking to at the time of the instruction were disobedient and wanted to do things their way, we later read of the end result and the devastation that soon followed.

A well known story that documents the results of disobedience to GOD is the refusal of Pharoah to release the Israelites from captivity.

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. Exodus 10:3 ESV

The arrogance of Pharoah caused deaths throughout Egypt – his own people were sacrificed. Pharoah felt he knew best right to the bitter end.

So, my question to each one of us is, “When we are faced with an opportunity to have a life lesson with GOD, are we willing to humble the prideful self that wants to dismiss the experience altogether because we ‘know better,’ or are we curious enough to go on an adventure with the Lord to find out what He is trying to teach us?”

Caution: the life lesson doesn’t always appear as a joyful walk in the park. In fact, it’s usually quite the opposite, which is why most of us run in the opposite direction.

After many years of trying to ‘convince’ GOD that it would be much better if all my circumstances were pleasant, and He showing me that if I trust Him the best would actually be in the big reveal, I’ve learned that swallowing that humility pill isn’t all that bad. In fact, it actually saves me more heartache than I would want to encounter.

Let me whisper a secret: when I slow down long enough to recognize that I’m in a “learning opportunity,” I realize that my free will can activate a best journey or a repeated lesson. Pausing to pray – even if it’s one of our favorite, “GOD, I have no idea what to do with this ______, but I’m trusting You with all of it …” – will grant us perhaps the most valuable fifteen seconds. It gives us just enough time to detach from our self-determined mindset to fix whatever we’re staring at and to tilt our heads upwards and cry out or His Wisdom.

I have found that with every occurrence, I am led to a Scripture or sermon or godly reading that speaks directly into my situation and gives me the grace to trust and obey – because there’s no other way (go ahead and sing the song if you know it).

In the Bible, we read of countless examples of how GOD always worked things out. It’s His promise towards His Children and we all know that GOD makes good on all His promises.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 NIV

I cringe whenever I hear someone utter those fateful words, “I’ve got this, I don’t need anyone’s help.” Because just around that corner is a journey that is likely to be very undesirable and quite memorable.

² Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 NIV

An eleven-day journey lasted forty years. If that doesn’t sound like a blaring siren warning us to take heed, I don’t know what does. GOD is far more patient than you or I. And it required humility for the people to finally ‘get it.’

I’ve come a long way, but I have only begun. I only praise GOD for His mercy and kindness – so far, I’ve not had to wander for forty years circling the same place. But I have had my share of repeated lessons. I’m trying not to have too many moving forward.

It is my heart’s desire that you’ll just take a moment to do a personal inventory of your own response to GOD’s life lessons. Some come subtle, some with a rumble, but all because He desires the utmost best for His Children. There’s something extraordinary waiting for us on the other side of this present lesson.

I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~

LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary