Hello ,

In 1936, Olympic runner Glenn Cunningham stunned the world. As a child, he had been trapped in a schoolhouse fire that burned his legs so severely doctors believed he’d never walk again. 

For months he lay in bed, unable to move. But one day his mother saw him dragging himself across the yard, pulling his lifeless legs behind him. When she asked what he was doing, he said, “I’m going to learn to walk again.” She knelt down, lifted him, and held him up until he found strength in her support. Her love lowered itself to meet him where he was so he could rise to where he could eventually go.

This is a tiny echo of what God did in Christ. Humanity lay broken, unable to lift itself, unable to rise into holiness or hope. So God knelt. He came low enough to lift us high. Jesus stepped into human frailty not as a symbol but as a Savior. 

Paul captures this in Philippians 2:6–7, saying Christ “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant.” 

The condescension of God is not God becoming less—it is God revealing more of His heart.

He entered our world not at its best, but at its worst. Violence, poverty, political unrest, suffering, confusion—He stepped right into it. He wasn’t born into royalty but into humility. He wasn’t laid in a golden cradle but in a feeding trough. He didn’t arrive to applause but to anonymity. And yet from that humble beginning, eternal hope was born for every one of us.

Hebrews 4:15 reminds us that we have a High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. He knows what it is to be tempted, tired, lonely, hungry, and rejected. But because He went down into the depths of our humanity, He can lift us into the heights of His grace.

Whatever weight you carry today—fear, guilt, uncertainty, grief—Jesus has already carried it deeper. Whatever confusion clouds your mind, He has walked through darker nights. And wherever you feel stuck, He kneels beside you, ready to raise you with the strength only heaven can give. 

The condescension of God is the everlasting reminder that He came low enough to lift you high, and because He came once, He will never stop coming to those who call on Him.

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word