As I was sitting in the car pool line (in my pajamas) nestled snugly between a Tahoe and an Odyssey, I was thinking. I have become quite proud of my little Mercury Sable Stationwagon for many WRONG reasons. Of course it has great gas mileage. It was inexpensive and it holds all three of my boys...closely, but it holds them. It is a good car and it has been a blessing.
There was a time I hated it. I was not happy that Andy would not let me get an Odyssey or a Sienna. We did not need them he said. Well, of course that was when we just had two babies...we then, AFTER we got the stationwagon, became pregnant with another. Yes, it is tight but all in all it works just fine. It has taught me many lessons. That is what I am going to share.
I, being me, pined for a bigger car, and complained. But one day - apparently an idea came to me, "You can use this", I must have subconsciously thought, "to your advantage". So I started priding myself in my lowly stationwagon. "We are not in the mainstream, we have godly common sense and do not just go with the flow because everyone else does. We can be pleased we are not keeping up with the Joneses so to speak." Nauseating isn't it?
So I went from wanting to be like others and have a van (more because I really didn't want a stationwagon...too old fashioned I thought and there is a "look" I wanted to have and it wasn't the Griswold Stationwagon look) to using it to lift myself up and make me feel better about our very common sensical choice. And common sense is a good thing. It is a blessing and a joy to have it and to use it. But that is not good enough...I take my lack of self-esteem and run to the opposite extreme of pride. Where is the happy medium? I think it is important...being balanced and seeing ourselves for what we are and trying to guard against pride while remembering how very blessed we are. That is priceless. And a commodity to seek after, I am pretty sure.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 21:24 The proud and arrogant man-"Mocker" is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.
Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor
Ecclesiastes 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
And in looking up what scripture had to say about guarding against pride - in any form...Isaiah 2 came up and the exact same thing is said two times...so you know it must be important...
11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
it says it again in verse 17.
If we don't figure it out now...one day we will!
That chapter I am going back to...think it is worth camping out there for a few days and delving into it more thoroughly!
I am a simple person - as a whole. I am not brilliant, I am not one that has amazing revelations. Most of what I come up with is what most people already know and are practising. I find myself staring hard at people's mouths at times just so I can understand what they are saying -(may have adult ADD - feels that way sometimes!) but - what I do know is that our energy should be spent in glorifying our Heavenly Father and encouraging others to do the same. We do well to guard against our sinful hearts and the pride it wants to display. And that means pride in our exalted status, whether money, talent or title plays into that or our lowly status that causes us to want to shun the things of this world - which in turn causes us to be prideful in our so called false "godliness". And that is a danger as well...all prideful people are not rich in the physical things...sometimes they pride themselves in knowledge, in servitude, in being humble (sounds like a oxymoron - but it can be done - trust me). What it comes down to is that if we are not putting God first in all we say or do...if we are managing to lift ourselves, or our children up instead of God, we are in the midst of idol worship and we are failing miserably.
The good news is...God knows this. He is not surprised....nor should we be. But guard against it by being in Scripture, prayer and confessing it to our friends for accountability. Each little step we take to make sure that we are indeed putting God first in all we say or do is simply causing us to be more like him. And that is something I want more than anything.
There was a time I hated it. I was not happy that Andy would not let me get an Odyssey or a Sienna. We did not need them he said. Well, of course that was when we just had two babies...we then, AFTER we got the stationwagon, became pregnant with another. Yes, it is tight but all in all it works just fine. It has taught me many lessons. That is what I am going to share.
I, being me, pined for a bigger car, and complained. But one day - apparently an idea came to me, "You can use this", I must have subconsciously thought, "to your advantage". So I started priding myself in my lowly stationwagon. "We are not in the mainstream, we have godly common sense and do not just go with the flow because everyone else does. We can be pleased we are not keeping up with the Joneses so to speak." Nauseating isn't it?
So I went from wanting to be like others and have a van (more because I really didn't want a stationwagon...too old fashioned I thought and there is a "look" I wanted to have and it wasn't the Griswold Stationwagon look) to using it to lift myself up and make me feel better about our very common sensical choice. And common sense is a good thing. It is a blessing and a joy to have it and to use it. But that is not good enough...I take my lack of self-esteem and run to the opposite extreme of pride. Where is the happy medium? I think it is important...being balanced and seeing ourselves for what we are and trying to guard against pride while remembering how very blessed we are. That is priceless. And a commodity to seek after, I am pretty sure.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 21:24 The proud and arrogant man-"Mocker" is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.
Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor
Ecclesiastes 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.
And in looking up what scripture had to say about guarding against pride - in any form...Isaiah 2 came up and the exact same thing is said two times...so you know it must be important...
11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
it says it again in verse 17.
If we don't figure it out now...one day we will!
That chapter I am going back to...think it is worth camping out there for a few days and delving into it more thoroughly!
I am a simple person - as a whole. I am not brilliant, I am not one that has amazing revelations. Most of what I come up with is what most people already know and are practising. I find myself staring hard at people's mouths at times just so I can understand what they are saying -(may have adult ADD - feels that way sometimes!) but - what I do know is that our energy should be spent in glorifying our Heavenly Father and encouraging others to do the same. We do well to guard against our sinful hearts and the pride it wants to display. And that means pride in our exalted status, whether money, talent or title plays into that or our lowly status that causes us to want to shun the things of this world - which in turn causes us to be prideful in our so called false "godliness". And that is a danger as well...all prideful people are not rich in the physical things...sometimes they pride themselves in knowledge, in servitude, in being humble (sounds like a oxymoron - but it can be done - trust me). What it comes down to is that if we are not putting God first in all we say or do...if we are managing to lift ourselves, or our children up instead of God, we are in the midst of idol worship and we are failing miserably.
The good news is...God knows this. He is not surprised....nor should we be. But guard against it by being in Scripture, prayer and confessing it to our friends for accountability. Each little step we take to make sure that we are indeed putting God first in all we say or do is simply causing us to be more like him. And that is something I want more than anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Let me know what you think and how you deal with things. I am always looking to do things better!