10 The Lord Gives Me Humility

It was a Sunday like any other; I went to church, went to Sunday school with my Peruvian teacher.
“Open your scriptures to Matthew 20,” Sister Allington started. “We are going to talk about the laborers in the vineyard.”

I opened my scriptures, leafing through the pages. I knew this parable. It’s about the laborers who worked just for the last hour and got the same pay as those who worked all day. It had the message that God can bless others as he wishes and we need to worry about ourselves-not get mad when others do just as well as us. Etc, etc, etc.

Sister Allington went on, “Look at the laborers who only worked at the end of the day. Imagine how they felt when every time the steward of the vineyard came to the marketplace to hire, someone else was chosen. Imagine their desire to work and their disappointment every time the opportunity slipped by. Their hope slipped away with every one.”

I sat and pondered what she just said and started to think about my own life.

“Their humility when they were paid the same is evident. God allowed them to be humbled before he finally gave them the blessing they so desired.”

I thought about the recognition I never got from my coaches. I thought about the nights I spent on my knees begging to feel happy and begging to forget my pride. I realized the Lord had been answering my prayer all along. Because I didn’t get the reward I desired, I was slowly being humbled until I received an even greater reward.