Reveal...Respond...Repent

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:7-10

What exactly does it mean to humble yourself before God?  As I was praying about this just this morning I felt that I got a good answer.  Humbling ourselves is when we ask the Lord to bring to light all the darkness in our hearts.  It is when we ask him to show us our true motives.  It is when we ask him to reveal the shadows with us.  This is a very humbling experience because the Lord will do it and he doesn’t miss anything that we have hidden within.  However, when we pray for this to happen, we must have the correct response.  In James 4:9 it says, “Let there be tears for what you have done.  Let there be sorrow and deep grief.  Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.”  That is what repentance should look like.  When the Lord reveals our hearts to us, there should be deep repentance.  Even though you may not think that the issues God has revealed are such a big deal, if God has brought it to light after your prayer than it is something you have to repent of and deal with.  Remember this is about being humble before God.  Do not rationalize or excuse or even justify.  Let humility rise up within you and repent.  The issue in question may have more to do with someone else and your obedience could make all the difference!  James 4:8 says, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”  Don’t let your loyalty be divided.  Choose humility, choose Jesus.