Oh, continue Your steadfast love to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the evildoers lie fallen. They are thrust down, unable to rise. (vs. 10-12)
What can separate us from the love of God? Absolutely nothing.
What can keep us from knowing and experiencing the love of God? Pride.
The root of sin, which is essentially separation from God, is our own arrogance. Feeling we are too smart for Him. We know better than He does because, honestly, we cannot see Him. Last night, awake again and praying for things I cannot fix, the Lord reminded me of me impotency in the several situations that I was bringing before Him. He did not, however, leave me there, but gently reminded me that I should trust in Him with all my heart and don't lean on my own limited understanding of things (Proverbs 3: 5-6). In the night, when I was straining for closure for the calamities for which I prayed, and in waking up this morning to a new day, the challenge is that trusting in God to fix what we cannot is a choice. It is intentional. Those of us who know Him, should find this to be such a relief. The calm that He is "greater than our hearts and He knows everything" (I John 3) relaxed my body and my mind so I could go back to sleep last night. Prescient, powerful and counterintuitive, my Father is probably not going to work out the things I pray for in any of the million scenarios I was coming up with.
Pride can sneak up on us, though. It was the sin of the Pharisees. It is the sin of the church. It is always knocking at my door. As the mother of three kids, I got pretty good at problem solving. Sometimes I had to make head-spinning decisions at the spur of the moment. Had to feel confident it was the right choice. I have also made horrendous choices out of my own neediness or hubris. Devastating. Without asking Him because in my heart I just assumed He would surely agree. After all, it was me! And that was the problem. Doing things out of my own paradigm. From my own experience and point of view. Thinking I was always right. I was married for twenty-five years before I discovered in couples' counseling that just because my husband had a different opinion than mine, it did not mean that he was wrong. I know...I am slow.
Arrogance keeps us from understanding the great love in which the Lord covers us. We don't even really look there because we are capable of doing it all ourselves. Can't see how others are feeling or try to understand where they are coming from because we are always right....or self-righteous. Our Father must stand aside, shaking His head and tsk-tsking our ignorance while He waits for it to all fall apart so He can show us the "light" of the situation. The enemy, arrogance, keeps its foot on our necks, nails us to the ground, and we forfeit the joy of relationships with God and others.
Admit it! No one likes a know-it-all. Especially the One Who does know everything! And what a relief to not have to have the answers all the time. Pray that arrogance does not keep you from your God. That nothing the wicked do to you will drive you, in cynicism, away from the steadfast love of your God! He will never leave you or forsake you. He is faithful even when you are faithless. But sometimes we make Him stand at a distance, loving us from the bleachers while we wrestle with an enemy that will eventually pen us to the mat in defeat.
What can separate us from the love of God? Absolutely nothing.
What can keep us from knowing and experiencing the love of God? Pride.
The root of sin, which is essentially separation from God, is our own arrogance. Feeling we are too smart for Him. We know better than He does because, honestly, we cannot see Him. Last night, awake again and praying for things I cannot fix, the Lord reminded me of me impotency in the several situations that I was bringing before Him. He did not, however, leave me there, but gently reminded me that I should trust in Him with all my heart and don't lean on my own limited understanding of things (Proverbs 3: 5-6). In the night, when I was straining for closure for the calamities for which I prayed, and in waking up this morning to a new day, the challenge is that trusting in God to fix what we cannot is a choice. It is intentional. Those of us who know Him, should find this to be such a relief. The calm that He is "greater than our hearts and He knows everything" (I John 3) relaxed my body and my mind so I could go back to sleep last night. Prescient, powerful and counterintuitive, my Father is probably not going to work out the things I pray for in any of the million scenarios I was coming up with.
Pride can sneak up on us, though. It was the sin of the Pharisees. It is the sin of the church. It is always knocking at my door. As the mother of three kids, I got pretty good at problem solving. Sometimes I had to make head-spinning decisions at the spur of the moment. Had to feel confident it was the right choice. I have also made horrendous choices out of my own neediness or hubris. Devastating. Without asking Him because in my heart I just assumed He would surely agree. After all, it was me! And that was the problem. Doing things out of my own paradigm. From my own experience and point of view. Thinking I was always right. I was married for twenty-five years before I discovered in couples' counseling that just because my husband had a different opinion than mine, it did not mean that he was wrong. I know...I am slow.
Arrogance keeps us from understanding the great love in which the Lord covers us. We don't even really look there because we are capable of doing it all ourselves. Can't see how others are feeling or try to understand where they are coming from because we are always right....or self-righteous. Our Father must stand aside, shaking His head and tsk-tsking our ignorance while He waits for it to all fall apart so He can show us the "light" of the situation. The enemy, arrogance, keeps its foot on our necks, nails us to the ground, and we forfeit the joy of relationships with God and others.
Admit it! No one likes a know-it-all. Especially the One Who does know everything! And what a relief to not have to have the answers all the time. Pray that arrogance does not keep you from your God. That nothing the wicked do to you will drive you, in cynicism, away from the steadfast love of your God! He will never leave you or forsake you. He is faithful even when you are faithless. But sometimes we make Him stand at a distance, loving us from the bleachers while we wrestle with an enemy that will eventually pen us to the mat in defeat.
Great Post. I often forget that trying to figure things out for myself is pride. I've had many sleepless nights too, trying to figure out how in the world certain things could come together... all of it really does keep me from experiencing his love. keep writing ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Angie. So thankful to God that He keeps us....
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