During times of illness, it’s important to reap the benefits of humility. According to Deut 8:2 one of the key purposes of the Wilderness season is to develop this quality.
And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
Deut 8:2
God had a purpose for the Israelites in the Wilderness. He wanted them to learn humility. Today, I am exploring the concept of humility, in relation to the journey through illness.
Additionally, I will be discussing three key benefits of humility for those who are unwell, as well as outlining five methods for cultivating humility throughout the healing process.
You may not relate to pride, or bragging or arrogance in any way, but humility isn’t the opposite of pride. Inferiority is the opposite of pride.
Feeling not good enough, insecure, worrying a lot and thinking people around us are better all point to the truth that we have misunderstood humility.
What are the important benefits of humility when we’re journeying for healing?
BENEFITS OF HUMILITY
1. GOD GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE
God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6
During a season of sickness, one of the benefits of humility is grace. We need the grace to survive each day.
We may depend upon God sometimes even for strength just to get out of bed. God’s grace empowers us to do what we could never do in our own ability. Even believing him for a miracle takes grace.
Grace delivers us from difficulties and heals our sicknesses. John Bevere says humility is a grace magnet!
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
Is 57:15
He doesn’t just give grace to the humble, he dwells with the humble as well.
2. HUMILITY MEANS WE HAVE A HEALTHY LIFE POSITION
When we’re proud, we’re a bit like the Pharisees who came from a place of superiority. They even supposed they were better than the Son of God!
If you’re in this place, you tend to be quite critical and judgemental of others. Naaman, King Saul and Job’s friends also had an ‘I’m ok but you’re not’ attitude towards others.
(See JOB’S THREE FRIENDS. 5 WAYS TO DEAL WITH THEM)
You tend to have a sense of entitlement if you’re in this place. This isn’t loving, nor accepting of others.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up…..Who are you to judge another?…..But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
James 4:10-16
See LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF NAAMAN. CHECK YOUR EGO
The opposite of pride isn’t grace, It’s inferiority: low self-worth, timidity and even victimhood come from this place.
Thinking you’re not good enough leads to people-pleasing and perfectionism. Or, self-hatred and self-condemnation. There’s a sense of urgency because you’re in survival.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7
When we’re worrying or in a place of anxiety, we’re not being humble. I know I often find myself operating from a place of worry and fear.
This is a lack of humility; we’re not completely trusting God. See GOD SAYS YOU ARE WORTHY. 5 STEPS TO GROW SELF-WORTH
Both the passages in James 4 and 1 Peter 5 talk of God lifting us up when we’re in a place of humility.
When living with chronic symptoms for so long, there’s nothing I want more than for God to lift me up.
Being in the survival states (fight/flight/freeze) puts a lot of pressure on the nervous system. Cortisol and adrenaline constantly drip into the system amplifying symptoms.
See WHAT IS THE AUTOMATIC NERVOUS SYSTEM?
There’s the tendency to try and control and fix others or change their perception of you which is also controlling. You feel as though you have something to prove.
Ideally, we want to have the healthy ‘I’m OK and You’re OK’ position. This is in alignment with who we are in Christ. It attunes with the ventral part of our autonomic nervous system.
Being in peace, calm and rational. Having healthy thoughts about others as opposed to thoughts which encourage cortisol to drip into our bodies.
Think Jesus, the apostle Paul or Joseph.
In fact the apostle Paul said ‘he was the worst of all the sinners’ showing that even though God had chosen Him to lead and to write most of the New Testament, it never went to his head.
Derek Prince says our attitude towards others reflects our attitude towards God. Thinking we’re better or worse than others isn’t Godly.
This leads us to the next reason we need humility on our healing journey.
3. HUMILITY LEADS TO BLESSINGS
Do you remember when God suggested that Abraham and Lot part ways?. Abraham, who had superiority in terms of leadership ranking, gave Lot first choice which part of the land he wanted to live in.
Abraham was secure in his relationship with God which empowered him to be so humble. God revealed Abraham’s inheritance after he’d shown Lot such humility.
The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.
Gen 13:14-15
Has God given you a vision for your future?
When you’re unwell, knowing the future God has for you will spur you on in your faith for healing but growing in humility is our qualification.
How to grow in humility.
Being Christ-occupied is our foundation. When our eyes are on Him, we are kept in a perfect peace
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Is 26:3
Usually, the antidote to worry and fear. We start to see things from His perspective and are less swayed by emotion.
Keeping our eyes fixed on him perfects our faith and causes us to walk the path He has for us with the grace He gives us.
As we operate from our identity in Christ, here are some other ways we can strengthen that humility muscle.
1. PRACTISE GRATITUDE
I’ve mentioned the importance of gratitude before on the blog. It is how we rewire our brains to notice the good things.
When we’ve lived with a lot of trauma, the pathways in our brains seem to be attracted to the negative.
Gratitude is one way we allow God to heal this.
Looking for simple pleasures each day which I call glimmers. They may only be a second or 2 like noticing the scent of a flower or the smile of a stranger.
Or they could be something more memorable like someone giving you an unexpected gift. 
When we’re proud we think we’re entitled to things so it’s harder to be grateful. Likewise when we feel inferior, we tend to just notice bad things and filter out the good.
The closer we are to Jesus, the more content we are with the little things.
2. ACCEPT FLAWS.
I have grown in this so much over the years. I used to speak negatively about my body all the time until I learned how ungodly and self-sabotaging it was.
Think of a body part that you don’t like and find appreciation for it.
Ie, ‘I’m grateful for my eyes because without them I wouldn’t be able to see. I wouldn’t be able to drive, read and write, see people and places…..
This is an exercise I do with my counselling clients. The more we accept parts of ourselves we don’t like, the more self-love starts to replace self-rejection.
The Bible asks us to speak words of life and not death so here we’re speaking words of love, life and goodness.
Self-acceptance means we’re attuning to who we are in Christ. He has accepted us so now we must accept ourselves and this is a good place to start.
3. HONOUR AND HELP OTHERS
Giving others words of encouragement or compliments means we’re growing in our love for others. We’re taking our eyes off ourselves and on to other people.
When we’re so wrapped up in our own worlds, either because of superiority or inferiority, then we’re unlikely to take the time to be generous towards others.
It also releases a happy hormone into our systems which helps us return back to the ventral part of our nervous system.
Taking time with others, listening to them, and empathising with their situations strengthens our humility muscle.
Jesus came to serve. He didn’t see Himself as too important or exalted to get down on his knees in service to those in need.
I have the privilege of teaching part of a course we do at church called ‘Home’ where I encourage newcomers to church to get involved with serving.
This is hard for those who are yet to grow in their walk with the Lord.
The closer we are with Him, the more servant-hearted we become. Otherwise, we’re serving in our own strength or for the wrong reasons.
See THE MEANING OF BARTIMAEUS. 5 KEYS TO HEALING
4. STOP COMPARISON AND WORRY
When we compare ourselves to others, we lose. Either we feel bad about ourselves or we feel good about ourselves but at the expense of others which isn’t healthy or kind.
When Naaman compared himself, he developed superiority. He thought all his accolades and prestige meant he was more worthy than anyone else. He nearly missed out. on his healing because of this.
When the 10 spies compared themselves to the giants they said “We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that’s how we must have looked to them.” (Numbers 13:33)
Because they weren’t humble Oftentimes we read the above account and hope that we would be like Joshua and Caleb who gave a very different account.
The reality, though, is that I probably would have thought exactly what the 10 spies thought.
If you’re living with a chronic illness for many years, you may feel like you’re facing a giant.
If God is in us, a greater revelation of this Truth would squash any doubts and worries.
As I reflect on what God is showing me about humility, it becomes clear that practising humility helps us to effectively surrender our worries to Him.
How often have you attempted to give your anxieties to Him, only to find yourself worrying about them once more?
If I worry a lot, I’m not identifying with who I am in Christ and who Christ is in me. I’m also comparing the size of the situation against the God in me!
Out of all the benefits of humility, this is where my growth needs to be.
David was a small boy with a great revelation that God was with Him the day he conquered Goliath. Having humility means having the correct perspective of God.
5. FORGIVE
Forgiveness can be a sensitive area and in my experience, it can take a long time.
But holding onto hurts and grudges causes us to be and stay in the fight/flight/freeze states amplifying symptoms. It is hard to heal when we’re in unforgiveness.
Asking God to do it for you means we forgive in Christ’s strength which is long-lasting.
There’s so much emotion attached to unforgiveness making it a real challenge but God would never ask or expect us to do this if it was impossible.
Unforgiveness stems from an unhealthy life position.
We have no right to hold onto unforgiveness when God has already foreign the person. This is superiority and self-righteousness.
What helps me is thinking of Jesus and all he has forgiven. Both personally and world-wide. If God forgives ‘for His (Jesus) name’s sake, then so can we.
It begins with Christ-occupation: having the mind of Christ is our starting place and our actions will follow accordingly. If anyone had the right to entitlement it was Jesus, son of God. Yet He chose to walk on earth as a man.
Christ-occupation leads to humility and it’s effortless.
As we draw close to Him, He draws close to us and eliminates worries, toxic thoughts, unforgiveness and self-hatred resulting in humility.
For me, the freedom that this gives is one of the greatest of all benefits of humility.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on … humility,……
Col 3:12
This verse suggest that we have to actively put on humility suggesting it is not automatic but deliberate.
The Bible tells us that Moses gained and grew the benefits of humility in the desert season. (Acts 7:22) which suggests that our wilderness season is a real opportunity, and an invitation for you and I to f grow in humility as well.
I hope this has helped someone today? Where in your world do you need to grow in humility?