He Fell to the Ground (Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14)
He Fell to the Ground (Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14)
When we compare Acts 9:7; 22:10; and 26:14, we learn that the men who accompanied Paul also fell to the ground but then got up again, while Paul remained facedown. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18), but in this case, his fall would lead to salvation, not condemnation. It would fulfill the prophecy that aged Simeon spoke to Mary: “This child [Jesus] is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34). Note the sequence: pride leads to a fall that humiliates us, but humility leads to a fall that elevates us and leads to our rising again to a new life! “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5 NASB); and the grace that comes from the highest place, where God reigns, is found only in the lowest place where we surrender to the Lord.
I think it was Andrew Murray who said that humility is not thinking meanly of ourselves but simply not thinking of ourselves at all. Truly humble people do not surround themselves with mirrors reflecting only themselves. Instead, they surround themselves with windows through which they can see others and discover their needs. Jesus not only spoke to crowds but also took time to listen to individuals and meet their needs. He humbly was at the beck and call of lepers, beggars, foreigners, and even dying criminals!
Humility is the soil out of which all other Christian virtues may grow. Proud people love themselves, not others, and if they pay any attention to others, it’s only to use them to promote themselves. Proud people enjoy very little peace because they are always fearful of being upstaged by somebody. Proud people have very little patience with the ordinary people around them, and as for being kind and gentle toward others, they rarely think about it. G. K. Chesterton wrote, “Pride is a poison so very poisonous that it not only poisons the virtues, it even poisons the other vices.” Read that statement again and ponder it.
When D. L. Moody was directing the Northfield Schools in Massachusetts, one day he was in his carriage at the railway station, waiting for some students to arrive. Suddenly, a man ordered him to help him and his daughter with their luggage and then take them to the school. Moody jumped down and loaded the baggage on the carriage and drove to the campus. A short time later when the father entered the office to register his daughter, he was shocked to discover that the man he had been ordering around was the president of the school. Moody only chuckled and tried to put him at ease, but the father had learned a good lesson. In one of his sermons, Mr. Moody said, “If we are going to be used of God, we have to be very humble.… The moment we lift up our head and think we are something and somebody, He lays us aside.” 3