Quest 4 - How Low Can You Go?

“How low can you go?”

Typically this is a question reserved for two occasions that are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Option 1: A limbo line at a skating rink

Option 2: When someone crosses you and upsets you.

As much fun as option 1 is and as much as I hate option 2. When I ask that question, I am not referring to either of those occasions. The context of the question today is “Does God play favorites?”

The answer that Mark Moore presented to us was yes, yes he does. But he doesn’t favor the powerful and mighty, he favors the low and the meek.

It’s so counter-cultural to the experience that we would expect. The world seems to be centered around these cultural icons, political figureheads, business gurus, and beautiful, talented people. So what we try to do is be like those people because we want to have the worlds favor. We disregard what we do have to try to get what we don’t have.

That ain’t the answer chief.

Time and time again in scripture, we see God embracing and using people that you would never assume be able to make an impact. No matter who you are, how successful you are, how talented you are, how much money you have, or what kind of role you are in… If you set your heart right, God will show up in your life. You have to lower yourself into that position and once you do, you experience God.

That’s favor right there.

But if you are like me, it is easier to say that, than to live that out and believe that you can be favored by God.

In the social media age, it’s really easy to look at peoples posts, their successes, how people interact with them and think… Man, God really favors them. Why couldn’t he shower me with favor like that?

Good news: He does want to favor you.

Tough to swallow news: It takes work on our end too. Mark said it really well, “God measures value differently than we do. Our culture values possessions; God values generosity. Our culture values entertainment; God values sacrifice.”

Decent news: I am going to give you 3 quick things that may help you find favor through being lowly.

1.Trust.

I wanted to start here because when you are feeling lowly, the natural thing to do is to give up on God. The mentality shifts to: If he doesn’t show up in the way I was participating, I am going to push him away. If life isn’t a bunch of butterflies, he must not like me. If I go through a hard time, he’s abandoned me. We have all been there because we have all gone through tough times.

Being lowly through the tough times is difficult. I can’t imagine that Joseph and Mary thought their journey was a cake walk. Yet, in the midst of being lowly, they kept trusting God and put one foot after another, then the next thing you know he shows up and gives them favor.

I don’t know what your exact situation is, but keep walking it out, keep believing that God is going to show up, keep trusting in his goodness. At the end of the road, you will find favor. It may not be how you're expecting it, but he will show up.

2. Praise

This one is a bit different than trust. In this context: trust is important in the struggle, where praise is important in times of success. Mark said that God exalts the humble and humbles the exalted. We can’t let our success get to our heads. There are situations where we get so caught up in how well we are doing that we forget that God was the one that got us there in the first place.

We need to be lowly people. Lowly doesn’t have to mean down-trodden and beat down. Lowly can (and should) mean humble. We need to be a group of humble people. One of the best ways to humble yourself is by praising God. You are putting God first before yourself.

3. Serve

Serving is so important for us. It allows us to use our gifts. It gets us on a team. It gets us to buy into vision. It gets us to experience different things. But most importantly, it allows us to take care of sheep.

There are people who need to know who Jesus is. It’s our calling and our mission to help them know that. The best way to do that is through serving. In the moments through scripture that we see God move, it is often correlated with serving in some manner.

If we want to find favor by making ourselves lowly, we have to be willing to serve.

Being favored by God is predicated on us being lowly, many times that’s not going to be fun. It’s tough situations, it’s work, and it’s believing that the long term is going to be better than the short term. It’s hard. But you know what is fun? Having the favor of God and experiencing His goodness. That’s worth all the struggle. All the trust. All the praise. All the serving. All the lowering.

This week, ask yourself: How low can I go?