Hen!
I had a roommate in college, who happened to be a big Country Music fan. He particularly enjoyed the likes of Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Mac Davis. Truth be told, most of us probably don’t know who Merle Haggard even was. I say, was, because…well, he died. In fact, he died just this past year in 2016…on his birthday of all days!…(that’s just bonus information that no one really needed to know…but you can’t deny the irony…I mean that’s like a 1/366 chance!...yep, leap year!). Even, if we happen to know Merle…what about Mac? I have never been a fan of Country Music, (bluegrass would be an exception…but that’s not so much country as it is…well, folk), so it comes as no surprise, that I have no knowledge of Mac Davis. Despite all of this, my roommate would frequently walk around the apartment, in the same clothes he had been wearing for the past 4 days or so, (like the rest of us), singing, Mac Davis’s famous, (is it really famous if no one knows who he is?)…”O Lord it’s hard to be humble…when you’re perfect in every way, I can’t wait to look in the mirror, cuz I get better looking each day.”
I believe that the Lord desires to keep us in a humble state. Mac Davis may learn that eventually…or maybe he has, because…like…no one has really ever heard of him. A few years ago, I was pheasant hunting with some friends. I had previously, been pheasant hunting once in my life…on a game farm. When you hunt pheasants on a game farm, you can shoot both roosters and hens. When you hunt “wild” birds, (not on a game farm), you can only shoot roosters… no hens. Because of my lack of experience, I am already feeling inadequate and apprehensive. Yet, I find myself having a strong urge to demonstrate my hunting prowess by impressing my fellow hunters with my crack shot…which really doesn’t exist…but I wish it did. As we are plodding through the field the dog in front of me is getting very excited…”birdie” as they call it…and then so am I! I am getting excited…and jumpy, but, I am ready…I am focused…I am going to bring down this bird…the bird flushes…someone yells “HEN” (which means don’t shoot), BANG! My gun goes off! “HEN!” is yelled again…BANG my gun sings again…the hen flies away. Ok, that’s humbling on a number of levels…
I wish the story ended there…but it doesn’t. After lunch we head back out…and this story repeats itself…to a tee!….My friend’s calling “HEN!”…my gun, answering their calls with BANG! BANG!…and once again…hen flies away! I am only thankful of the fact that my double barrel only holds 2 rounds, so as to not have shot “at” any more hens or have “missed” any more hens…
If we are going to be honest…it is hard to be humble. It’s interesting how often, at the peak of our pride…humility quickly follows, thus verifying the phrase, “Pride comes before the fall.” The Bible has a lot to say about humility. James 4:6 states, “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’” We also find passages, such as Matthew 23:12, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
In Ephesians chapter 4, vs. 1-16, we read about how Paul describes mature believers in Christ. It’s fascinating to me, that one of the first steps…and, in fact, one of the true signs of maturity…is humility. I feel that, often, our “maturity” leads us to believe in our own superiority. I think perhaps we need to take a step back and relearn humility in our journey to maturity.
