I recently learned that until Christopher Columbus’s dying day, he was convinced he had landed in India. Rather than admit he had discovered a new world, he clung to the belief that he had reached his intended destination. His self-assurance blinded him to reality.

Imagine that kind of stubbornness: unwilling to admit a mistake even when the unintended outcome is far greater than what you set out for. That’s the danger of self-assurance—it doesn’t just mislead us, it locks us in. It keeps us stuck. He prioritized defending his original theory over embracing a greater reality. Which makes me wonder if he was truly an explorer. Because a true explorer isn’t just someone who travels far; it’s someone willing to change their mind when faced with new evidence.

Exploration doesn’t just require courage—it demands humility. Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is admit your map was wrong.

Faith requires the same posture. Humility is the starting point of faith, because it begins with the admission that you are not the center of the universe and cannot lean on your own understanding—you must trust in the Lord.

In Scripture, one of the saddest stories is when Jesus is unable to heal someone—not because he lacked power, but because the person wouldn’t receive it. A rich young man came to Jesus, proudly listing his spiritual résumé and asking if he had done enough to inherit eternal life. He thought his map—the commandments—would lead him straight to heaven. But Jesus, looking at him with love, saw the one barrier that remained. He said, “Sell all you have and give to the poor.”

In that moment, Jesus invited the young man to enter a new land—one marked by radical dependence, not self-sufficiency. But the man couldn’t do it. The humility required was too great. So he turned and walked away unchanged.

Like Columbus, he missed the greater reality that was standing right in front of him.