pride

Sharing with a friend last night I reminded him something we all know but fail to rest in way too often. After hearing his circumstances I remembered what I tell me from time to time and reminded him this simple truth… “God is your source”.
We tend to lean on what we do, what we know and get secure on our ability to be “self sufficient “. The difficult part of self sufficiency is the word “self”. It maybe just me but too many times our friend “self “ tends to shine like a rock star then in one moment it shows up non- sufficient.
God reminded us through this passage on Isaiah
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD. Isaiah 31:1
When we are making the cash and rolling at work and home we get this independent feeling and false sense of security that WE have done all this! Here lies the foundation for two ugly emotions to roll. One is pride. We get this haughtiness and sense of accomplishment. The other ugly emotion is the bookend of this play. After you have placed confidence in your self sufficiency and hit the inevitable wall of lack, fear comes in and puts demands on your “self” that in the end our “self” is found wanting!
Don’t get me wrong, God places gifts in our lives to have success in life and if we are smart, we use our talents and time to honor him and live in fruitfulness. But we are thinking best when we know there is only one who is all sufficient. This thinking gives us two better bookends of emotion. One is humility, always thanking God for fruitfulness and the other is trust, giving us an anchor in times of need.
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

I for one enjoy the Olympics, especially the summer ones. I like the events, the exposure of other nations, the human stories representing all the competitors. But mostly, enjoy the baptism of national pride we feel from the opening ceremony, the presentation of our flag when we medal an event, to the closing ceremony.

To me, it seems we as a nation we were waning form remembering the ideals of our great land. Be it, the weight we experience from a sluggish economy, the obvious divisive plate that we all get handed to us on election years, or the mix bag of feelings we have when our young are in distant lands fighting in any conflict.

I remember how thick and deep our core values were revisited on 9/11, no one was talking political slants, public prayer was the soup of the day, and a real belief that we will come through that attack and be a better nation. We did, we rebuilt not just a city but also a hope that steady us through a reforming period.

We are a great people as long as we remember what made us great form our inception. Things like freedom, trust, pride, adventure, and of course a hope that runs deep in God, you know it says it on our currency.

Peace and love…..and swim Phelps swim!!!