Lessons in humilty (just do it anyway!)

-- I signed up for an 8-week Disciple Bible Study course at my church. It doesn't seem like I have time for the daily reading, and how do I know I'll be able to attend the group meeting each week? But this is one of those things that I sense God telling me: This one's yours. Don't fight it. Just do it. You'll see why, by and by!

-- A week ago, I braved potentially snowy roads on a Saturday to go from Norman to Oklahoma City for a 12-step meeting. No one else made it. I noted in my journal that it seemed like I'd traveled 25 miles for an hour of solitude. But the time turned out to be well-spent. I read and learned. And I felt a bond to people who have been there and done that before -- being the only person to show up at a meeting.

-- A week later (this past Saturday), I trekked to the city on a sunny day for a meeting. The room was full. More evidence that God knows just what I need when I need it.

-- An unhappy colleague who survived two rounds of layoffs has now officially resigned without a job securely lined up. For some reason, the person's decision was filled with lessons in humility for me. I guess what that involves is realizing I have no business judging others about anything. It's all I can do to mind my own business.

-- The Sunday school lesson included some discussion of why people don't seem to learn to follow God's good instructions for our lives. Among the reasons we gave was greed. But it occurred to me that, for me, the bigger issue truly is pride -- the thought that I somehow deserve better than what I'm getting. It's been going on with mankind since the start of Scripture! And realizing that also seemed to confirm the antidote: Submit myself humbly before God.

(I wrote this midweek, and for some reason I didn't post it. Maybe I thought it wasn't finished. But I don't feel like writing today, so it looks pretty good! What did I say? Just do it!)