Gloriously Burden-Free Humility

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

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“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker?” (Isa. 51:12-13, NIV).

When I read this question from the book of Isaiah, I found it puzzling. “Who are you?”  is a probing question. It indicates that Holy Spirit is convicting His children of self-importance. We have thought more highly of ourselves that we ought. Up until there, I get it. We humans do often fall into pride.

However, what does that have to do with fear? If we keep reading that same question, it continues: “Who are you that you fear…?”  It seems like the concept of being puffed up, self-confident, and self-reliant… and the concept of being cowering and afraid… would be two contradictory states.

They are not. Holy Spirit explained this to me when I asked Him about it. He pointed out to me that our fears happen in places where we have not yet learned to fully trust Him. Where we are not trusting and relying on Him, we are trusting and relying on human resource as a substitute for Him. Trusting and relying on human resource (instead of on Him) is the essence of pride.

Pride is an ugly way to live. Self-reliance is a miserable way to exist. The façade of self-dependence is a fragile fortress that does not keep fear at bay.

Here is the beautiful alternative that He offers us:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7, NIV).

Living this way, in utter trust and dependence on Him, is the essence of humility. We rely completely on Him for everything that we need. We trust Him deeply to feed us, to lead us, to heal us, to enlighten us, to strengthen us, to encourage us, to answer us, to provide absolutely everything that we need. We trust Him for wisdom in time management. We trust Him for the protection of our children. We trust Him for our next breath. We entrust our very souls into His care.

When anxiety attacks our peace, we come to Him. We humble ourselves once again in the posture of complete dependency and trust. We see ourselves as tiny, and His hand as mighty, loving, and entirely capable. We unburden ourselves, casting each care on Him. We drink in the revelation that He cares for us. And His perfect love once again casts out every fear.

To live in dependence is to live in glorious liberty. To live in humility is to live in deep, deep peace.

Next time fear tries to come and steal our peace away, let’s listen for His gentle voice asking with utmost tenderness, “Who are you, little one, that you fear? I, even I, am He who comforts you. Will you shift the weight of that burden over to Me? I can. I AM. Will you let Me carry it? Will you let Me carry you?”

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In what areas has Daddy taught you to let Him carry the weight? In what areas would you love to learn to do so?

 

 

 

35 thoughts on “Gloriously Burden-Free Humility”

  1. Wonderful Jennifer, thank you! As we share in the Recovery rooms, we must surrender to win. In this limited scope, we place our addictions in the hands of our loving Creator, trusting Him to remove them.
    As true as this is, there is so much more, as you have pointed out. When we live in self-reliance, we live on the defensive, always trying to protect what we have while still attempting to gain more. That’s a perfect recipe for inner conflict! But by surrendering our lives to the Lord, we are given access to the Almighty Himself! By far a better set-up than self-reliance.
    I have several Scriptures committed to memory that help me when I start down (again) the path of self-reliance: Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall (Psalm 55:22) and as the Apostle Paul wrote: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)
    May you know His blessings even more today than yesterday,
    Chuck

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    1. Once again, your words brought a joyful smile to my face. Thank you, my brother! Yes, what joy, what true joy and freedom, in surrendering to Him! (Plus, I just used Phil 4:19 in my teaching this weekend 😀 ). His richest blessings of grace and peace to you in ever-increasing ways too, Chuck!

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      1. I’ve been blessed to be active in Alcoholics Anonymous for over 27 years and also have the opportunity to counsel with young men battling opiate addiction. The places where these meetings are held are collectively referred to as Recovery Rooms.
        Thanks for asking!
        Chuck

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      1. I have demo tapes of the songs I have written, about half of which I sang myself. Others are sung by professionals. I wrote songs in the 80’s and made a few trips to Nashville to try to get them published.
        For the most part, Nashville was not impressed.
        But I’ve found that my songs minister to the sick, to children, to missionaries, and Narnia fans. 😉
        (My husband might say they also minister to the hard of hearing, LOL. Smart alec.)

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    1. He is so close to you, dear one. How He longs to spend that intimate time just holding you and pouring His love into you! I am praying for you right now, that you would find that special connection with Him that your spirit is also longing for, and that He would show you how deeply He loves you and cherishes you!

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  5. Peace on you my dear sister in the love of the Lord💕 I wanted to say that I missed you and I haven’t forget about the dedicated post or comment to you about Jesus, Mary in Islam😊 there’s so so much information that I am trying to put it together in a simple way with my humble English vocabulary 😅
    I loved this post Jennifer but strangely the first impression that I had when I read the first verse of Isaiah it comes to my mind that it is absolutely Not the Holly Spirit that his speaking But the LORD himself, look to the structure of the phrase, one will blame an other for not listening or obeying Him not an other, ”

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    1. Thank you, my dear friend! I missed you too and also haven’t forgotten about your video! I have thought about it a bunch of times but life has not slowed down enough to give it the proper attention! Since I took two weeks off, it’s been even more hustle and bustle to catch up with everything 🙂

      The beautiful thing about Holy Spirit is that He IS the Spirit of God, and He is God. My sweet friend, here is a passage about that:

      1 Corinthians 2:9-13
      “However, as it is written:

      ‘No eye has seen,
      no ear has heard,
      no mind has conceived
      what God has prepared for those who love him’—

      10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

      The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”

      So, when we say that the Holy Spirit carried the writer along (in this case, Isaiah), you are right, it is the Lord Himself doing so. (Another name for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus).

      I love you, Nassima! I am very joyful to be sharing back and forth our thoughts on these matters!

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      1. My dearest friend in the love of the Lord Jennifer❤ thank you so much for this lovely comment, and I am happy that you shared with me some passages that speak about the Spirit.. So as I may have understood, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of God the spirit of the Lord yes? And it has the same meaning when written:” Spirit of Jesus”? ( peace and blessings upon him) ? Is my understanding correct?
        You have said also in this comment that the Holy Spirit is from God and it is God? Do you mean by God here, the Lord Almighty the creator of the Heavens? Or do you mean Jesus? (Peace and blessings upon him) ?
        I have one more question Jennifer please, if you are to pray, from the bottom of your heart about something that really really matters for you! Not the daily usual prayers but something special and you may have experienced this before, To Whom you Pray? To whom exactly you turn? Who is the First you feel Closer, Listening, Comforting? Who is the ONE?
        I love you Jennifer and can’t say how much it makes me happy exchanging with you on this Noble and Holy matter ❤❤❤

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      2. A happy laughter from my spirit rises up as I read your words, dear Nassima! Thank you so much for your desire to understand the One that I love so much. Yes, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, and this means the same thing as “The Spirit of Jesus.” When I say that the Holy Spirit is God, I mean both that He is One with Lord Almighty, the Creator of the Heavens, AND Jesus. The Bible teaches that God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit are both Three, and One. Here is one facet of that teaching, from the book of John:
        John 1:1
        “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
        In this Scripture, “The Word” is another name for Jesus. He was both with God, and He was God, from the very beginning.

        And how I love your question about my prayers! Because prayer is my absolute favorite part of living! Actually, all of my prayers are special like you describe, as opposed to being routine prayers. I don’t have any routine prayers that I use; they are all a spontaneous flow. And I pray to both the Father and to Jesus, and sometimes to the Holy Spirit. I feel all three Persons of the Godhead (as we call them because they are each a distinct Person even as they are One together) close and intimate, listening and comforting and answering and strengthening me, and speaking to me very personally too. I relate to the Father as both my precious “Daddy” and Almighty God. I relate to Jesus as both my Best Friend and Lord over all the universe. And I relate to Holy Spirit as my Counselor, my source of power, illumination, wisdom, inspiration, love, peace, and joy. He fills me continually with His presence, which is full of light and life!
        Thank you again for listening! I would love to hear about what your prayers are like too, my sweet friend?

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  6. It also reminds me of a verse from the Quran where the Lord Himself says: “(3:175) It was Satan who suggested to you the fear of his allies. Do not fear them; fear Me, if you truly believe”
    An other verse:
    (106:4) Who fed them against hunger, *4 and secured them against fear. *5

    *4) The allusion implies that before the Quraish came to Makkah, they were a scattered people in Arabia and living miserable lives. After their gathering together in Makkah they began to prosper, and the Prophet Abraham’s prayer for them was literally fulfilled when he had prayed: “Lord, I have settled some of my descendents in a barren valley near Thy sacred House. Lord, I have done this in the hope that they will establish salat there. So turn the hearts of the people towards them, and provide fruits for their food.”(Ibrahim: 37) 
    *5) “Secure against fear” : secure from the fear from which no one anywhere in Arabia was, safe. There was no settlement anywhere in the country the people of which could sleep peacefully at night, for they feared an attack any time from any quarter by some unknown enemy. No one could step out of the bounds of his tribe for fear of life or of being taken prisoner and made a slave. No caravan could travel safely from fear of attack, or without bribing influential chiefs of the tribes’ on the way for safe conduct, But the Quraish were immune from every danger; they had no fear of an attack from an enemy. Their caravans, small or big, freely passed on the trade routes everywhere in the country. As soon as it become known about a certain caravan that it belonged to the keepers of the Ka`bah, no one could dare touch it with an evil intention, so much so that even if a single Quraishite was passing on the way, he was allowed to pass unharmed and untouched as soon as the word haram ” or “ana min haramillah ” was heard from him.

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    1. Fascinating history! Thank you, Nassima, for sharing 🙂 How many years ago was that? The teaching against fear is so important! Your sharing it turn reminds me of another passage from Isaiah:

      Isa. 8:12-14
      “Do not fear what they fear,
      and do not dread it.
      13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
      he is the one you are to fear,
      he is the one you are to dread,
      14 and he will be a sanctuary”

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  7. There is no better example of humility than our Savior. Jesus humbled himself as he walked faithfully to the Cross. He totally trusted the Father to the point of shedding blood for us. How can we not feel humbled to knell at Calvary?

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  8. Jennifer, for many months I have been a part of Celebrate Recovery at Victory Church, every Friday from 630 pm to 930. Worship then teaching then small groups. Most my time was with other men, usually much younger that are lost in hopelessness and anger. Sharing in each others challenges, dreams and defeats is very healing and brings a unity of spirit.
    I will continue in this season of help- next will be co-dependency – as the Spirit leads I will follow. This is a world wide program committed to key principles in the Word. A TRUE HOME for those seeking a deeper level of humility, forgiveness, grief and much VICTORY in Jesus. Amen Len Wisniewski

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    1. I have heard a lot of wonderful references to Celebrate Recovery groups in many different places. I’m so VERY glad that you have found one, and that is has been so helpful and healing to you! Thank you Daddy God!!

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  9. Jennifer my dear, don’t worry about the video, I will type down every word said and will put it in a new post dedicated Just for you sweetie😊🌺🌺🌺 and when you will have time, you can read it✨ All the love for you my dear and may God Always Be with you😍

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    1. Aw, that touches my heart that you would take the time to do that for me. That would actually help a lot! I sometimes have trouble downloading videos here in the Amazon Jungle due to Internet speed, so would likely have to do so in the middle of the night when there is less Internet traffic happening in the city. Being able to read it instead would indeed be much easier for me. I really appreciate that so much! Love and hugs my dear! ❤ ❤

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    1. Thank you, Warren! Rejoicing in this moment that we really can fully trust Him, that He is absolutely everything that He has said He is! It’s a joy to hear from you — I really appreciate it! Grace and peace be yours in ever increasing ways 🙂

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