My 10 yr old daughter and I were talking about pride and anger.
-----
Isaiah 14:13-14 For you [Lucifer] have said in your heart:
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation In the sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High
-------
I asked her if she knew where pride started. She says in a questioning voice, the devil? She asked me, why didn't God just destroy the devil instead of kicking him out of heaven? Great question. I am not exactly sure was my answer. I agreed that would have been great...just get rid of the devil and all would be good. I went on to explain that there had to be a reason we don't understand. There must be something about how thing operate in the heavenly realm or about God that we don't understand.
-----
I did not explain this part but looking at Isaiah 14:15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.
It continues to explain through verse 21 that all will stare and question. It is as though he is thrown down and made an example of. We could explore this for days and probably not answer why it had to be this way. As a dear friend of mine helped me accept, some things are a mystery and may always remain a mystery.
-----
With regard to pride, we will probably deal with it most of our lives but there is a way to overcome it. She asks, how is that?
I explain that even me, your dad has pride and I don't like it and I don't want it. In fact, God has been dealing with me about pride in my life. What we do is we pray and we read the Bible...we need to believe only God can fix us and with the Holy Spirit, pride can be dealt with. In a prayer talking with God it can be as simple as confessing to him....God, I have this pride in me that causes me problems even to the point of uncontrolled anger. I don't want this in my life. Help me. Set me free. I need this pride in me to he dead. I desire to be dead to this flesh and want to live with Holy Spirit in order to have fruits of the spirit and not things that bring death. Please change my heart and my mind.
I told her...the prayer doesn't have to be fancy and the prayer requires patience and faith. It has to be heart felt and you have to want this with expectation. It is a little like putting money in a candy machine and expecting a piece of candy to come out. But God does not work like a candy machine and we should never treat him like a candy machine. Prayer should not be like putting a dollar in a candy machine, pushing a button and the candy comes out.
What I mean is...in your life, you have grown up and when you ask for something, you want what you asked for right away.
Yes, sometimes God seems to answer and it is at that moment, just like when we pray for people, God often touches them in the moment, but to ask for God to kill the pride in our life, it often takes time because we die through life experiences. So God is not like a candy machine. Like the dollar, you put your prayer in and you push the button. But if God was this machine, chances are you would see a flashing sign pop up on the machine that repeatedly lit up saying, please wait. You stand there looking at it and it just keeps flashing, please wait, please wait, please wait, please wait....
What happens if your friend comes to play...are you going to wait or are you going to go play? Sometimes we make choices on whether we want to wait and allow God to change us or do we just say, whatever and go play. We figure we can come back later and see if the sign is still flashing. Ohhh, but what if the sign has stopped flashing and what you asked for is not there? You missed the moment. Now, you have to put in another dollar....or prayer and make your request to God. We have to trust him and you really have to keep asking him to change you...not so you get what you want and at the same time feed your pride but rather the pride in you dies and you come to a place where you know Jesus is all you need. Instead of asking for selfish desires...which from pride, we learn to live in humility. The we can really make a difference because we are looking at others and helping others, not caring about our own wants. We trade up giving up our life for others.
I prayed a prayer and she drifted off to sleep.
Thank you Lord for the opportunity to speak life into my little girl and at the same time reminding me that you are not a candy machine...an example relevant even to me.
Comments