Acknowledging Our Need for God

In the Old Testament, God makes choices about whom to favor. God prefers the offering of Abel, the second-born son of Adam and Eve, over that of his brother, Cain. God chooses to fulfill promises to Abraham through Jacob, also the second-born son, rather than through his brother Esau. Abraham’s line continues through Leah, the wife Jacob does not love, rather than through Rachel, Jacob’s beloved. Jesus is descended from Judah, the fourth-born son of Jacob, not from the first-born Reuben or the politically powerful and wealthy Joseph.

One thread through these choices appears to be that God chooses to work through those who know they need God. In their young adulthood Cain and Esau were both confident in their abilities as hunters and thus didn’t seem to have need of God. Rachel stole her father’s household gods, which can be taken as a sign that she didn’t have complete faith in her husband’s God. Reuben felt entitled to his status as first-born son, and Joseph felt secure in his wealth and power. On the other hand, Abel and Jacob were second born and thus not entitled to the same privileges as their older brothers. Leah was unloved by her husband. Judah was the fourth born of twelve and watched his father dote on his stepbrothers Joseph and Benjamin. It appears that Abel, Jacob, Leah, and Judah were more aware of their need for God, and thus God chose them for special favor.

Given this pattern in Scripture, it is not surprising that St Benedict denotes reverence for God as the first step of humility. When we are in right relationship with God—that is, when we acknowledge that we need God and that nothing else (our own skills, money, or power) can take the place of God for us—then God can be God in our life, work through us, and bless us. Jesus affirms God’s preference for the humble by seeking out the poor, the ill, and the shunned, who have one thing in common: they know they need God. When we ourselves learn to live with this awareness, we open the way for God to work through our lives too.