Capstone

I keep thinking of ideas for this blog when I'm in Sunday School or church...good thing my mom handed out paper for notes this morning. We read Psalm 118 out loud, and then to ourselves in silence, and verse 22 stuck out to me: "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone." I immediately thought of David, the youngest (and physically least impressive) son, becoming the king of Israel for the glory of God. My second thought was of Jesus, who quoted this verse in Matthew 21:42 to refer to himself--rejected by humans, killed and then glorified to become our high priest. Another cool aspect of this verse is that it can apply to us. When I think of my past I cringe; my sins are awful and they still cut me deep, when I allow myself to feel guilty over them. These words remind me that, even when people might not be able to look past those sins to see who God is turning me into, God himself is willing to work through me and keep changing me even when I mess up every day.

Others in Jesus' genealogy sound like Psalm 118:22 applies to them, too. Tamar, ignored by her father-in-law, resorted to acting like a temple prostitute to get pregnant, and then married him; Rahab was born a Gentile and was saved from death by harboring spies; Ruth slept at Boaz' feet to coerce him to marry her, and was born a Moabitess. Also, the first Christian missionary was a Samaritan woman who was a social outcast in her own town. If God used all these people, anyone has a chance!

This got me thinking about humility. It's hard sometimes for me to be truly humble instead of ripping into myself and constantly being critical of myself and others--this is my thorn, and God's healing it. in The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis discusses the delicate balance between humility and pride (at being so humble). If you're not familiar with the book, the premise involves a senior demon, Screwtape, addressing his nephew Wormwood on how to send his assigned human to hell. In one chapter, Screwtape advises Wormwood to send his human prideful thoughts of how humble he is, and what a good Christian he is, how much worse the sins are of those around him, etc. Until recently, I was unsure what the true definition of humbleness was, but now I understand it to mean focusing on the fact that, although I have flaws as everyone does, God created me and that means I'm beautiful--and I need to listen to Him to be as beautiful as He wants me to be. My beauty comes from Him and His instruction. When I commune with God and I obey Him, I actually gain more self-confidence, so I've come to think of humbleness and self-confidence as going hand in hand. Does that make any sense?