Exposing the Underbelly

Exposing The Underbelly

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Now as simplistic as it may sound I sometimes grasp Spiritual concepts deeper through the use of word pictures. The moment I read this passage I envisioned us lowering ourselves before God much like a dog does to it’s Master’s hand. Images like this make me do a little research on what I’m picturing mentally. In doing so I found some interesting things to reflect on.

I learned that when dogs are born their Mother’s constantly turn them over to clean and care for them because they cannot take care of themselves. Much like us, this is not met without some resistance. However, because the Mother is bigger and stronger eventually the puppy learns to submit to her authority and decides to roll over. They begin to understand that she is essentially their Master and that she is looking out for them, regardless of what they may think or want at the time. At some point they get the connection that she is there to help them.

As dogs grow and mature most begin to apply these same principles when showing submission to their Human Masters. That’s why you’ll see a dog roll on its side or on it’s back when they see a human loved one approaching. Now they could very well turn and bite the hand that feeds them, but this would be out of fear. This kind of behavior would be out of a need to remain in control but instead the majority of dogs will relinquish all their power. Despite not knowing in advance what that person might or might not do for them, they will choose to submit themselves based on the knowledge that this is who pledges to care for them. They will expose the most vulnerable, the weakest part of their being, the under belly, all in an effort to show they have placed full trust in them.

Shouldn’t we do the same? ‘Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand”, I really needed to stop and take the time to consider what that requires. It’s easy for me to say I want to be humble to God but it can’t be something I show with words but rather by my actions. It requires pliability, it requires ‘letting Go and letting God’ as the phrase so cleverly describes. It means I am ready to be vulnerable to His will even though I may have my own. There are many definitions for the word “humble”. When I was considering my part in applying this scripture here is one that greatly affected me, “lowering in condition or importance; destroying the independence, power or will of.” Yikes! … Now that sounds a bit scary but this type of surrendering works out for my benefit. When I humble myself to God’s mighty hand I am trusting in His Authority, I am proving that I believe He’d never harm me, and I am appreciating how much he takes care of things for me. Exposing my “under belly” which is my Soul into God’s hands means that I will not give way to fear and that I am letting Him lead me. When I do this, as any loving Master would, He takes hold of me.

Praise Him.