Be Humble or Be Humbled

"God Counts The Tears of Women"

As I was driving to work the other day, I remembered a scene from a movie I had recently watched on television. I cannot recall the name of the movie, but one scene came to me with poignant clarity.

In the scene, one male Hebrew student was reading out the scriptures to another male Hebrew student. He read, "God counts the tears of women." Then he looked up at as fellow student and asked, "What does that mean?" The other student replied, "I don't have a clue."

As I recalled that scene, I played a rerun of all I had done that morning before sitting behind the wheel of my car to drive to work. I had fed two cats and one dog. I had folded laundry, made beds, fixed breakfast for my son, packed lunches, vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom, showered and dressed. I also had spent time in prayer and studying the Word. Recalling all that I had done that morning pressed upon me and I said to God "I know what that means."

Armed with my understanding, I determined to quiz some of the men in my office to find out what they accomplished that morning before coming to work. Certain that they readied only themselves while their wives struggled with the children, I asked two male co-workers my question.

The first man - S - has a wife and four children. He described making their breakfast, packing lunches, dressing the children, and picking up the dry cleaning before he came to work.

The second man - J - was just as industrious. He dressed the children and took their dirty clothes down to the laundry, made his wife's coffee and even rubbed her back before leaving for work.

I was humbled. I have long stood in confusion between the bold Christian and the humble Christian, but that day, I remembered a favorite saying of one of my sisters. "Be humble or be humbled."

I had just eaten humble pie, and I realized that when we stand in ourselves - we should do so in humility, but when we stand in God - we can do so in boldness.