A Royal Diadem in Unexpected Places: Seeing God’s Glory in the humble

Isaiah 62:3 says, “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” I found this beautiful verse in an unlikely place.

Yes, it was a rainy day in November, and the roads were chilling after the cool rain. The breeze was cool around us. I was traveling with my husband on his bike. I was thoroughly surprised when I saw a garbage-collecting vehicle loaded with garbage that had this verse pasted on the left corner of the vehicle. It put a huge smile on my face. How beautiful God’s Word is. How much beauty it adds unto us.

The garbage man was busy doing his work, and God’s Word was adding more beauty to the whole thing he was doing. I understood one thing: the work we do on earth may look great or poor in someone’s eyes, but when we are with God, He adds beauty to our soul every day. Even though the garbage man was looking like a poor guy with no standing in society’s eyes, he was a royal diadem in God’s hand. How undeserving we are to receive the abundant love of God. And surely God’s Kingdom is for such people who are humble in the world’s eyes but priceless in God’s eyes.

Look at the life of poor Lazarus. He was living a poor life while the rich man was enjoying his luxury. But God decided to comfort him in heaven, whereas the rich man, who never cared about God during his lifetime, ended in hell.

This brings me to another person who had a small shoe-repairing space near a popular gold shop in Nanganallur, Chennai. It was a contrast to see his humble space near the glittering golden shop. When we had a talk with him, the passion he had for God was remarkable. God was immensely glorified in this man’s life. He told us that whoever comes and talks to him in a day, he makes sure he talks something about Jesus to them. He showed us the pamphlets he keeps in his place. He talked about the care cells he goes to as a prayer cell leader. How great it is to know that God is building His heavenly Kingdom through people who have very humble standards in the world but are extremely rich and beautiful in God’s sight.

Hey friend, how do we treat the poor and humble? Can we see how honourable they are in God’s eyes? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:27: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” Simply put, the way God looks at people and the way God chooses people is different. It is wonderful to see His great hands and plans at work through humble, simple, and poor hands.

Dear God, may we always be poor in spirit, carrying the humility we need to be used to build Your heavenly Kingdom. May we have a heart to honour and look at people through Your eyes. Fill us with Your will, with Your way of seeing things and people around us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.