“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2
James Herriot, a long-time British veterinary surgeon and author, recounts a humorously told and insightful incident when he was a young veterinary student. He was just starting out in school, beginning to learn more than the average person about animals. This new knowledge had him walking with a strut, confident that animals and humans alike would recognize his prowess. Leaving the classroom one day, he encountered a horse walking down the street. He reached out to pet the horse’s neck, confident that the horse would recognize the skilled hand of a veterinary surgeon in training. Instead, the horse responded by biting him in the shoulder. The owner of the horse had to pull the horse off and rebuked Herriot, in front of a watching audience no less. Herriot sulked away humbled, with his pride more wounded than his shoulder.
Herriot reflected on this equine encounter a few years into his practice, marveling at how he could feel humbler albeit more experienced, than he did as a naive first-year student. He also marveled that the average Yorkshire farmer held no reservation in giving him forthright and assured medical advice despite their lack of training and medical knowledge.
When I read this account told by Herriot it resonated with me. When I graduated seminary, part of me felt that I somehow knew less than when I began. Although I had grown immensely, I was in many ways less self-assured. As my horizons were stretched and expanded, the measure of what I knew looked increasingly smaller. I had become more aware of how vast, wonderful, and untamable God truly is. Growth had put me face to face with my own limitations and the sheer magnitude of possibility. Sometimes growth can counterintuitively feel like regression. In reality, our growth may have produced a humble awareness of how little we knew to begin with. The Bible tells us to “clothe ourselves in humility”. As we humble ourselves before God and commit ourselves to following Him, He will surely help us to grow and mature in Him – even if that growth feels regressive or counterintuitive at times.