The kind of faith that pleases God is brave, but never arrogant. It is characterised by obedience and humbleness. Abraham was an example of faith, and his faith justified him because of his obedience to God’s Word. Only those who are obedient are humble, and only those who are humble are obedient. And so a faith that is supernatural, intelligent, and practical and produces blessings that are accompanied with humility.

That was the enormous difference between Kings Saul and David. Saul was not humble to obey God, and his disobedience cost him his life. The moment he saw that he was stuck in a life or death situation, he preferred to fall on his sword instead of seeking God’s compassion. The same thing happened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A man was going through financial difficulties and unable to cope with the humiliation and shame, killed his wife, his two teenage daughters, and then committed suicide.

David was absolutely sure that however dirty and miserable he was, he could always count on God’s compassion. His brave, yet humble faith saved him.

True humbleness, the humbleness of spirit, keeps the doors open for us to reach the throne of the Most High.

He promised, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).

The world judges people by what they have: money, political power, beauty, strength, courage, knowledge, intelligence, etc. In short, their outward appearance.

But when God looks at someone, He sees who he is, because He looks at the heart.

It’s a big mistake to think that sins can impede the Spirit of God to work. If that were true, Jesus would not have performed so many miracles. To be honest, the real villain that blocks God from working is hypocrisy. A hypocrite is not humble to recognise his mistakes. He keeps himself far from God, and yet he demands from other people something that he himself does not have—purity.

On the other hand, the Bible tells wonderful stories of people who had committed terrible sins, yet God had compassion on them simply because of an act of sincere humbleness.

Ahab was one of the worst kings of Israel. Stirred up by Jezebel, his wife, he did terrible things against the Lord, worshipping idols. But when Elijah prophesied about the calamity the Lord was going to bring on his house, he immediately humbled himself before the Lord. He tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his body, and fasted. And as if that were not enough, he slept on sackcloth and hung his head low.

His attitude of faith in practice touched God’s heart. And the answer was quick. The Lord said to Elijah:

“See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days…” (1 Kings 21:17-29)

In one way or another, many people who fall remain downcast and weak in their faith…

Returning to church is even more difficult because of the evil voices that whisper to their minds, saying:

- What will they say about you?
- Nobody else will believe you! Everyone will see you as a loser.
- You’d better read your Bible, pray, and follow Jesus at home, far away from the eyes of those who know you. In this way, no one will criticise or look at you with disdain.

This is exactly what evil wants. The more Christians isolate themselves from the church, the more vulnerable to attacks they become.

It all begins like this: one day you read the Bible, but the next day you forget to read it; one day you pray with great assurance, but the next day you don’t. And so, without realising, you start replacing the practice of faith with “more exciting” things and, when you least expect it, your faith is extinguished – like a cold charcoal block.

For example, when I was young, I fell in love with a girl from my church. She met the spiritual requirements to be my wife, so we became engaged and actually started building our house.

As time passed I found out that that relationship was not God’s will, and I broke up with her. I was heavily criticised by her parents, by my parents, and by the whole church, including bishops and pastors…

It hurt to see people casting a judgemental look at me… It was not easy!

However, I kept attending the church, despite of all the embarrassment; after all, it was my salvation at stake. I could not let my faith slack. No way!

In order to keep my faith burning I needed to stay near the fire – the church (see Proverbs 26.20), even if it meant having a red face because of so much embarrassment!

God allows us to go through humiliation because He doesn’t want us to be proud of our own faith.

If you are experiencing this, give thanks to God for the humiliation and go ahead, for those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23.12).