Yesterday, we looked at what it means to meditate on the Word of God, and I encouraged you to begin the practice of contemplating Scripture while employing purposeful and relaxed breathing as a way to enter His Presence. For the next few days, I want to teach you a few specific components of meaningful meditation (all of these are based on 1 Peter 5), starting today with humble repentance.

Humility is a major theme in the Bible and the Proverb quoted by Peter that “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” is seen multiple places in the Scriptures, including in Hannah’s song, Moses’ song, Zechariah’s song, and Mary’s song in the New Testament. Clearly, the Lord does not work in pride and arrogance, but rather manifests His fullness through humility of heart. Such lowliness of spirit, however, doesn’t equate to God harming, humiliating, or making fun of us; instead, He presses us down so that He can lift us up! Unfortunately, the lifting up part happens in His time, not in ours. This means that in order to live in the Kingdom of God, we must submit ourselves to His unhurried nature. You see, Jesus is never rushed. In fact, everything He does takes time — trees grow slowly and flowers only bloom in season. The same is true of our lives.

Friend, as you meditate and draw closer to the Lord, I urge you to first humbly repent and renounce your sin. This doesn’t just include obvious things like greed, lust, and dishonesty, it also means laying down your need to control and surrendering your right to worry. As you assert your faith in the perfection of God’s timing, you can let go of vindictiveness, bitterness, and resentment, knowing that He will ultimately make every wrong thing right. As you submit yourself to His goodness, you take the crown off of your head and lay it before His throne. This is the first step to connecting with Him in meaningful meditation!