The Alpha of Exaltation

UV 3173/10000 The Alpha of Exaltation

Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD

Obadiah 1 v 4

Some exalt themselves and fly high as the eagle with their sense of self importance. But the Lord will bring them down in due course. They do not acknowledge the Lord and equate themselves with Him. In their arrogance, they do not realize that they could fall like a stone, that the very methods that took them up will bring them down. In contrast, those who humble themselves before the Lord will be raised up by the Lord to find a place among His stars. They realize that without Jesus, they are zeroes but with Him, they are heroes. They accumulate grace upon grace. They are confident like St Paul that they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them.

The Lord is the path-finder, the pace setter, the guide for His followers at every step of the way, on the steep slopes as well on the perilous cliffs of life, on the mountain and in the valley. They are not deceived into thinking that they can accomplish anything or reach anywhere on their own strength. When satan tempted the first man, he told him that if he disbelieved and disobeyed the word of God, that he would become like God. He was telling him a deceitful lie. The truth was that man was being tempted to be like satan, disbelieving, dishonouring and disobeying the Lord God. Man, thereafter, as a species are deceived into thinking that believing and obeying the Lord makes them weak and dependent. To set our nest among the stars is destructive for attractive as the stars seem, they burn up anything that comes near.

Human wisdom, power, beauty are self destructive. As a species, we are attracted to what is seemingly or superficially good, what is seemingly or manifestly powerful. We rely on our eyes, our senses and not on our judgement. This is the reason we are restored to a right relationship with the Lord by believing the Word- Jesus and obeying the word of God. Our spiritual or new life and spiritual sight are renewed. We rise by faith like eagles to find our nest not in the stars but in the Lord Himself. We acknowledge that the Lord is higher and better than anything in this world or in this universe. He lifts us up in due time or God’s time which is eternity. We wait for His hand of exaltation with expectation, patience, trust and humility. Elevation and enlargement as well as enablement happen not due to human intelligence or ability or talent but by the grace of the Lord. When it happens, we remain humble for we realize that it is not due to any merit on our part but purely by the grace of the Lord. We have nothing to boast of or take pride in. Instead, our hearts are filled with faith, praise and thanksgiving for it is the Lord's doing.