Whack! Chip chip chip……
1 Peter 5:6-7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Yesterday Dana gave her testimony to our small group. It was a heartfelt cry from a woman who was seeing God work in her life. I told everyone I wanted to hear it too; I had only witnessed half her life of it. As I listening intently, she opened up of pains of death, family struggles, personality and career struggles. I began to notice a common thread in our testimonies, that until I heard her say it, I guess had only been noticed. Her testimony is also rooted in pride. This morning as this scripture above was on my phone inbox, I felt God open my eyes to our similarities even more. God has designed the changes in the securities of both our careers & lives to strip away that pride.
The Apostle John points us to this; to the draw of living for a temporal world vs living for an eternal God. 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. When your drive is the pride of your ability to reach the goal, the goal is useless and laden in sin. The walls that you build, the roads that you pave to reach what drives you take your eyes off the One who is providing the means to attain it. Everything you think you can do; all that you accomplish that is not for the kingdom of God will fade away. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
God has humbled both Dana and myself the past couple of years. He has stripped away what we held dear; taken away what we placed above Him. He is showing us what truly matters, and showing us our sins in that pride of life. Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom. God may bring His hammer and chisel to chip away at what you consider your rock of pride. He took away my ability in physical strength of my right arm. He took away Dana’s career that she worked for since childhood. God got our attention, and now our attention is focused solely on God. Every day that you spend puffed up in the goals you attain; may be a day closer to God pointing out your sin of pride. The realization of that sin, with a humble repentant heart before Him in a plea for forgiveness, could prevent the hammer and chisel effects. The realization of how big God is, and how small you are, is a life changing step for the remainder of your time here and into eternity.
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