When the Towel Thought It Would Always Be Held

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

I stared at an old brown towel on the floor in my room today. It wasn’t always there. Once upon a time, it was my favourite; the one I reached for again and again, day after day. I packed it when I travelled. I washed it often. I held it close.

Imagine with me that, along the line, my brown towel got proud.
If it had a mouth, I imagine it might have said to the other clothes in my wardrobe:

“See how she loves me.
She takes me everywhere.
I tend to her body with tenderness.
She never forgets me. Surely, I am irreplaceable.”
“I am her favourite clothing”

Indeed, for many days and months, even years, it felt like that towel was the most treasured of all my cloth items. While other clothes sat folded in the wardrobe, waiting patiently for their turn, this one seemed to enjoy unmatched favour.

Until one day. No ceremony. No thank-you speech. No moment to say goodbye.
I simply decided it was time for a new towel. That same brown towel, once so close to my skin, so cherished, was now underfoot, used for wiping the floor. Not even folded neatly. Just tossed aside.

If the clothes around it could talk, I imagine their mouths would hang open:
“Wait… is that not the towel?
What happened to all the honour? All the nearness? All the special treatment?”

But here’s the thing: even the clothes who sit quietly in the wardrobe must never gloat.
Because if the towel teaches us anything, it is that proximity is not a guarantee of permanence.
Even if they are not cast down by the first user, give it two or three more owners… that is still likely their end.

The Warning

There’s a warning in this story for us all.
Sometimes, we start to feel secure in our usefulness.
We equate being used often with being permanently favoured.
We forget that all we are is clay in the Potter’s hands, and He alone determines what we’re used for, for how long, and when it’s time for a new vessel. Romans 9:21 says “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”

Sometimes, God elevates us to delicate places or great heights. He uses us to serve others, to bear their burdens, to be in close quarters with the high and mighty, to dine with them, or even become the high and mighty. But over time, if we’re not careful, we start to think we earned that position.

The towel was never valuable because of itself. It was valuable because the Master chose to use it.
The honour was in the choosing. The nearness was a privilege, not a right.

Uzziah: When the Towel Forgot Who Was Holding It

There’s a man in scripture who mirrors this story almost exactly. His name was Uzziah. He started out so well. He sought the Lord. He was marvelously helped. He became powerful. Scripture says in 2 Chronicles 26:15: “he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones from the towers and the corners of the wall. His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.”  “Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.”  (2 Chronicles 26:5)

But then… something sad happened….2 Chronicles 26:16 says “after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” 

This was not his role. He crossed a line. He forgot who gave him strength in the first place. In that moment, Uzziah was like the towel, believing his proximity gave him permission. That his usefulness earned him a permanent seat. He forgot the hand that held him, and he paid dearly for it.

The Good News For Servants (Children) of God

Unlike the master of the proud towel, our God does not use and discard. He is not unjust. He doesn’t treat His servants like tools. He doesn’t throw us away when He is done. He rewards us faithfully, abundantly and eternally.

Hebrews 6:10 says “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them”. When we serve faithfully, we hear “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! (Matthew 25:21)

Even though every man returns to the dust eventually, the servants of God don’t ends in the grave. Our service is remembered eternally. There is life after death, a reward that far outweighs anything this earth can give.

While a towel may be cast down and forgotten, the child of God is called home if we continue in humility and with God. We are called home to glory, joy, rejoicing, and to rest in His presence, where reward is eternal.

Let us serve faithfully, be available as soon as God needs us, but unlike the towel, our trust must never be in our usefulness. Let it be in God who sees, remembers, and calls us home when our work is done. Revelation 14:13 says: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.

May God’s grace and strength keep us ever yearning for Him, burning with love for Him, and faithful in serving Him to the very end.