When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground. Numbers 16:4
What is your reaction when you are face to face with the pride of another? When you survey the position they covet, the plans they control, the power they crave. When you observe the excessive interest they take in their own wishes, their own will, their own way. When you notice the only right they see is the right that makes them right. It seems we could experience one of two responses – lift up our nose or fall flat on our face.
It’s always sad when the arrogance of one is challenged by the hubris of another. “I would never think this thought, say those words, do these things – I am, after all, above that.” And with that, they rise to their defeat. In contrast is the response of one deemed more humble than anyone on the face of the earth, the one who hit the dirt. Whether humility is a weakness or a strength, it could only be true of those with weak knees as they descend to the summit of the valley, fall to the stature of the lowly, and drop to be first as the last.