Humility Brings Healing

In the summer Olympics of 2024 in Paris, Simone Biles sealed her legacy as the greatest gymnast of all time. She won gold in the individual all around and also in the team all around. Her legacy had been set. Her floor routine was one of the most difficult routines ever conceived. It was a shock when Rebeca Andrade edged her for gold in the floor routine after coming in second in the vault and all around. American Jordan Chiles was the bronze winner in the floor routine and shared the podium with Biles for a moment before Andrade was called up for her gold. When they called her name to receive the gold, both Biles and Chiles bowed to her as an act of honor. It’s was a great moment of sportsmanship and humility.

In Matthew 8, Jesus was approached by a Roman Centurion seeking help for his young servant. The crowd was shocked to see something like this since the Roman’s lorded their dominance over the Jews. When Jesus said He would go and heal the servant, the Roman guard replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed” (NLT). He went on to say how he was a man who had authority, but was also under authority. He recognized Jesus as a man of authority and humbly sought healing for his servant. Before speaking the word to heal the servant, Jesus made note of his faith and humility to the crowd saying that people like him would be in heaven before those who arrogantly thought it was their right. His humility opened the door to God’s blessings and answered prayer.

We’ve all quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 a hundred times at least as a call to pray for our nation. It says, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” We tend to gloss over the part that says, “will humble themselves.” It’s not just prayer and faith that opens the door to national healing. It’s humility. It’s bowing down to God saying that He is the solution to our nation’s issues. Like the Centurion, there’s lots we can do, but our efforts are limited without humbly coming to Jesus who has the actual authority to bring healing. Humility is the key to access the throne of God. It’s time we collectively, as the Church, bowed in reverence to the One who has Al, authority in heaven and earth, seek His face and turn from our sin. Then we will see the answers to our prayers and find the healing we so desperately need.

Photo by Eddie Wingertsahn on Unsplash