Humble Hungry

Humble hungry. That’s how I’m feeling this year. 

Happy New Year my co-laborers. While the pursuit of joy is always there, it does feel like I’m turning a corner this year. I recently heard a quote that said some years ask questions and some answer them. 2022 was a year of answers. 

A few years ago, I had a conversation about a job I didn’t want, in which I was told that I have started asking the right questions and now I need to find the answers. 

2022 provided a lot of those answers, largely around clarity and purpose. In a world that pressures us to feel like we have to have it all figured out by 30, I didn’t figure out what I wanted to do until then (in some sense, I knew all along, I just took a more circuitous path to get there). This revelation coincided with the birth of my first child. 

Hungry

My first kid made me hungry, not literally, of course. I have always been ambitious but her birth unlocked a new level for me. The first time I held her, I was flushed with this sense that I need to do everything I can for her. That feeling has never left me and has only multiplied with each new child. 

It was around this time, I really started to figure it out. Over the last five years, I’ve honed in on that vision even more. 2022 helped bring clarity by showing me how much I love being in the classroom and love impacting lives through writing, preaching, and counseling. I also wrote a whole book last year. I really fell in love with the process and it’s on a good track, thanks to the help of many of you. 

With all of that, I am hungry and ready to get at all of the things I want to do. 

But with humility.

Humility

I preached a couple of sermons last year on “The Way of the Kingdom.” One of the sermons in that series was on humility (not preached by me). I was reminded of how Jesus exemplifies humility for us. 

Philippians 2:5-8: 

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.

Instead he emptied himself

by assuming the form of a servant,

taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—

even to death on a cross.

2022 taught me one big lesson in humility: I can’t do everything. I came very close to overextending myself. Saying yes to too many things and trying to balance too much. I have my limitations and that is not a flaw. That is a  reminder that dependence is found in God alone. 

It’s not about my strength and ability to do things. Safety is found in trust and resting in the arms of God. Gordon Bridger put it this way in his commentary on Nahum: The phrase those who trust in him may be better translated ‘take refuge in him’, or ‘run for shelter’ to him. So God’s goodness and care for his people arises out of his loving and intimate knowledge of them. He knows and cares for those who take refuge in him.

I don’t have to work to prove myself or earn my place in the arms of God. I am loved and accepted because of Jesus. If Jesus can show humility through restraint then I can most certainly sit down and breathe. 

Humble Hungry

Put these together and this is where I am this year. I don’t have a ton of plans, per se, but I do have a lot that I want to do. I probably won’t accomplish it all but that’s ok. In 2021 I founded a nonprofit and in 2022 I barely had time to put into it but that’s because I was teaching - sometimes, things don’t go as planned and that’s ok too. Trusting God means that we trust him with all of it. The successes and the failures. 

Hey, I want to hear from you! What’s your mood this year? What are you looking forward to?