I chuckled out loud this morning when I read this heading in the SJ Mercury: “World’s tallest tower closes after elevator malfunction.” (See December 3 blog post: “Did you know the Tower of Babel has been rebuilt in Dubai?”) Many visitors to this Gulf city-state Dubai were disappointed when they couldn’t ascend to the 124th floor of the highest man-made structure on the planet—having traveled to this far corner of the earth to return home boasting of ‘getting high’ in Dubai. Of course, by now you recognized my rather unveiled drug reference to ‘getting high.’
Why do people get high? And I don’t mean just drugs: ‘earthlings’ get high on beauty, glamour, entertainment, riches, fame, success, and all sorts of pursuits. The reason is simple: they are trying to escape the futility of life without God, and therefore, without meaning. Paul explains that the whole world is groaning and suffering because of futility (Rom. 8:20).
But because God knows our humble estate He calls us to come up higher. But to those who try to get high without him, He says “though you make your nest as high as an eagle's, I will bring you down from there" (Jer. 49:16)... does this explain the 'malfunctioning" elevators? But to those who are “contrite and lowly of spirit” He beckons to His “dwelling place on high” (Is. 57:5). God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble; and to those who humble themselves under His mighty hand, He promises to exalt (1 Pet. 5:5-6). Reading about the failure of Dubai’s tower reminds me again of how different should be our understanding of getting high. (Perhaps it's time to read, or re-read, my wife Altha's book Come Up Higher!)
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