God Is Exalted
(and He Will Lift You Up)
“In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all.” C. S. Lewis
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10 ESV)
Have you ever felt small, powerless, or pushed around? I’m sure we all have our stories to tell. My brain can still replay the memory of one particularly humiliating event.
I just have to get through this line, I told myself. Then I’ll be safe.
My heart rate began to accelerate as I inched forward in the line. My hands trembled as I removed my shoes and put them in the bin on the conveyor belt. I added my zip-lock bag of liquids and my jacket. In a separate bin, I placed my iPad. Amid the banging of the bins and the beeping of the scanners, I fumbled for another bin and plunked my purse down. Then I hoisted my carry-on bag onto the belt.
Airport officials barked monotone directions at passengers as they hurried us along.
Rule-follower that I am, I’d done my best to comply with all regulations. But I was not a fan of the Transportation Security Administration (aka TSA). For some mysterious reason, the body scanners in this particular airport always seemed to light up when I walked through.
I was next in line to go through the scanner when I realized I was still holding my passport. Hastily, I shoved it into my back pocket.
Big mistake.
I looked over at the computer screen and glanced at the outline (the one that strangely resembled the outline of a murder victim at a crime scene.) The pelvic area of the outline was glowing.
“Do you have anything in your pocket?” the TSA official snarled.
“Just my passport.”
Not a gun or a knife or anything metal. Nothing dangerous.
“Well, here’s what’s going to happen,” she said. And she proceeded to explain the “pat down.” Her gloved hands would touch me in a way that would constitute a sexual assault in any other context.
“Let me take my passport out of my pocket and go through the scanner again,” I pleaded.
“That’s not our procedure,” she said.
When my protests became louder and higher pitched, she warned me to watch my tone of voice, and wielding her authority like a sword, she cautioned, “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”
Defeated, I complied, knowing she had the power to keep me from boarding the airplane. But I felt powerless and humiliated.
Most of us have been in a degrading position like that at some point in our lives. And if we’re not careful, we can spin ourselves into an obsessive frenzy or spiral down into a sea of self-pity.
Here’s a strategy for keeping our chins up when we feel put down:
- First, we turn our focus off of ourselves and onto God, who alone is worthy of exaltation.
- Second, we learn from the example of Jesus, who laid aside his glory and humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death on the cross.
- Third, we remember that God will one day lift up the downtrodden.
In other words, we live a life of humility.
God Exalts the Humble
C. S. Lewis tells us that the truly humble person is not some sort of “greasy, smarmy person” who is always telling you he is a nobody. Instead, Lewis says, “He will not be thinking about humility; he will not be thinking about himself at all.”
When we fix our minds on God’s power and greatness, we won’t fret over petty grievances.
We can learn from first-century Christians, who experienced persecution on a much higher level than most of us ever will.
The apostle Peter wrote his first epistle to a group of people who were living under the threat of persecution by Roman Emperor Nero. But Peter reassured them:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:8 ESV)
Humble yourselves.
God is mighty, and he’ll lift you up, too, when the time is right.
Toss your troubles over to him and let him take care of you.
Let’s look at this verse in context. In the first verse of 1 Peter 5, Peter addressed the elders and exhorted them to be humble. He spoke to them as a fellow elder and as someone who was an eyewitness to the sufferings of Jesus. Peter also considered himself to be a “partaker in the glory that is to come.”
In other words, Peter says, “I’m right there with you, folks. But I was with Jesus. I observed the way he remained humble, even in his suffering. And in the future, we’re going to see Jesus in all his glory. And best of all, he invites us to be part of it.”
The Humility of Jesus
We can learn a lot about humility by observing the Lord Jesus.
Paul also instructed believers to follow Christ’s example and display an attitude of humility.
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11 ESV)
Jesus voluntarily humbled himself. He is equal to God the Father, but he let go of his glorious status and endured the ultimate humiliation, a criminal’s death on the cross. And God the Father, who himself is high and exalted, exalts Jesus.
God Is Exalted
“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.” (Psalm 148:13 ESV)
We may feel low, but God is always high and exalted. Psalm 148 invites all creation to praise him…from the mountains to mango trees, from hummingbirds to heavenly hosts, from hurricanes and hailstorms to snowflakes and storm clouds, from the elderly in the nursing homes to infants in the nursery. God created it all, he rules over it all, and his majesty deserves our highest praise.
When you feel small, powerless, or pushed around, lift your eyes to God…..God is exalted, and he will lift you up.
Father, I exalt your name because of your great power and might. There is none like you. No one even comes close. Help me forget any slights, offenses, and insults I might receive, and focus on you instead. Thank you for sending Jesus, who endured the shame of being lifted up on the cross and now is high and lifted up and seated at your right hand. Thank you that one day we will reign with him. Amen.
Images courtesy of Levon Vardanyan and Leio Mclaren on Unsplash