Humility Precedes Honor

In the last post I discussed the fact that sometimes we are in certain circumstances we may not always find enjoyable, yet which are crucial to our spiritual and emotional growth and are a part of the process of becoming who God created us to be. I wanted to share with you some stories of great men, who did not necissarily start out so great. God allowed each of these people to have extremely humble beginnings so that He could prepare them for all the greatness He had in store for each of them.
One of them is the story of King David. David began his work as a humble shepherd, but God ended up placing Him to be a great warrior, protector, and King over all of Israel!
Moses is another, who came from a bloodline of slavery and even killed a man. Despite Moses' shortcomings, (and his extreme fear of public speaking!), God spoke through Moses and used Him to lead an entire nation of people who had been enslaved for hundreds of generations to finally be set free and released from slavery!
Another great story of humble beginnings is the one of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, thrown into jail for a crime he did not commit, but then raised up and blessed by God to be put second in command in all of Egypt (just one step below the Pharoah!).
I'm sure none of these men "enjoyed" being humbled while it was happening, but God was doing a work in them to prepare them for the wonderful future He had in store for them. So, my encouragement to you today is to know that whatever your circumstances may be, that there is a reason for it. You may not like where you are at, but you are in the training grounds for becoming all that God wants you to be, so that He can put you in a position of greatness.  
Remember that "Humility preceeds honor, (Proverbs 15:33)" and that if you "Humble yourselves before the Lord, He will exhalt you [at the right time]." (James4:10, 1 Peter 5:6). So if you feel you are being humbled by your circumstances, know that it is because God is preparing you for great things. Also keep in mind that "those who can be entrusted with little can also be entrusted with much" (Luke 16:10). If you are faithful with the little God has given you, you will be blessed with more. If you keep being an honorable person of uprightness and integrity, despite your humble circumstances, God will honor that.