Do we have a sense of the direction God is steering our lives? Or, do we just believe things are randomly happing to us that are out of His control? I know we believe that God has a master plan for us individually and corporately, but often our actions say otherwise. You may be scratching your head and saying, “Ok, Scott…what do you mean by that?”

What I’m saying is that we believe one thing but we do the opposite; our actions betray our belief. We say that we believe that God is in charge but then we manipulate, bully, strategize, worry, or whatever to get our way. We act like a stubborn, self-centered two year old throwing a hissy fit because we didn’t get the yellow popsicle!

This has taken me 36 years of following Jesus to understand, and I must confess that I still don’t get it all the time. I believe that this struggle between trusting God and getting my own way is a problem of pride. Arrogance always insists on getting its own way; it is the stubbornness that thinks, “If this doesn’t go my way then what will other people think about me?” Who cares? Really? And pride, well that’s the sin of making me the center of the universe…and a small universe it is when we are at the center of it all.

Scripturally pride is a destroyer:

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18; cf. 18:12; 16:5)

God will not tolerate pride because, at first glance, it violates the principle of love – the greatest commandment.

“…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27; cf. Matthew 22:37; Mark 10:30-31)

The order of these words is important: first love God, then love others, then self comes last, yes always last. Pride reverses the order; we love ourselves first; we become the priority. It’s all about me and what I want and how I look in other people’s eyes. When this happens destruction is right around the corner.

So the next time God gives you a popsicle, just take the blue one and rejoice with thanksgiving that you got anything at all!

Grace & Peace,