James 4:6 states “…God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” It is a frightening thought that the living God works to oppose the proud. I cannot think of any sort of adequate defense against such opposition. If God hates pride so much He would work in opposition to the proud, it must be something I need to guard against.
We studied humility in our Bible Study lesson last week. It was a humbling experience for all of us. In one place the author said that “…every sin is rooted in pride”. I think it would be safe to say, then, that all of us struggle with pride.
The woman who spoke on the subject yesterday said that God is so concerned with dealing with our pride He sometimes allows difficulty in our lives in order to humble us. When we are suffering, and we cry out to Him for help – and it doesn’t come, what are we to think? Is God indifferent to our pain? Doesn’t He care that we are hurting? Surely He hears and knows, and yet it seems that heaven has gone silent.
It is in these times that I must choose how I will respond. Will I become bitter and angry and turn away from a God who seems indifferent to my suffering? Or will I submit to His sovereign authority in my life? Will I surrender what I consider my rights and trust that He will be all He has promised to be? Do I love Him enough to trust Him? He has promised that He will work all things together for good to those who trust Him. He hasn’t promised to do it my way. He is seeking a humble heart that says “Lord I trust you to do the work in my life that You know is best.”
I believe my relationship to Him is of far greater importance to God than my agenda. I think it is the greatest test we face. When we ask for something that is so needful, so urgent, more important that anything we have ever asked for – and He either says no or delays to answer at all, do we love Him enough to trust Him?
There is another aspect of humility that just hit me right between the eyes. I have had the audacity to think that I’m not proud because, after all, I am always acknowledging my weaknesses. I’m the first one to admit my faults and point out that I can’t do anything right. I’m a great confessor because, heaven knows, I fail all the time.
It turns out that even that is a form of pride. If I’m honest, I must admit that I’m proud of my lack of pride. Look at me! I am humble. It is so easy to look at the people in scripture God uses to illustrate things like pride and think, “What is wrong with them? Don’t they get it?” I find I look at the children of Israel with much more sympathy as I get older. I used to think they were just ridiculously foolish. Now I think that I am so very much like them.
The farther along I get in this journey with the Lord, the more I realize how far I have to go. I get to a point where I think I’ve arrived only to find it is only a little bend in a very long road stretching out for the length of my years. I am so thankful we have a Father who loves us enough to stick with us as we walk along, sometimes stumbling, sometimes backtracking and sometimes making great strides. I am more thankful than I can ever say that I have a Savior who has already walked this road and understands the difficulties of the journey.


Blessings,