An article in National
Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God’s wings.
After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their
trek up a mountain to access the inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird
literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of
a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, the ranger reached out to knock
the bird over with a stick. As he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried
from under the dead mother’s wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of
impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had
gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke
would rise. She could have flown to safety, but she refused to abandon her babies.
When the blaze reached her, the heat had scorched her small body, but the
mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, those under
the cover of her wings had lived. “He shall cover you with His feathers, And
under His wings you shall take refuse” (Psalm 91:4). Remember the One who loves
you, and then be different from the masses of the world because of that love.
Life is filled
with humbling circumstances. Some of these are instances that we bring upon
ourselves, while others are out of our control. There are moments when the
right thing to do is to swallow our pride and humble our spirit, yet to do so
can be the most difficult of an entire ordeal. Pride is a strange emotion in
that it often seems disconnected from logic and reasoning. People can be filled
with pride when they can be either right or wrong …even when they don’t know if
they’re right or wrong! It is the root emotion of peoples’ most negative and
destructive motivations: envy, bitterness, rage, vengeance, and above all,
rebellion. The opposite of pride is humility, which is rooted in the more
practically defined spirit of submission. It is the willingness to give to
another, even to the point of self-sacrifice. Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34); But He gives more grace.
Therefore, He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble
(James 4:6). The Scripture could not be clearer concerning God’s view of pride
– He hates it! He loves submission. In fact, a plethora of Scriptures make it
abundantly clear that God actively works against the proud and promotes the
humble. Perhaps this is why we are told to “rejoice in suffering” (James
1:2-4), in that such times provide us with opportunities to choose the path of
humility. In the end, we need to thank God in our troubles, with gratitude, for
opportunities to grow in humility.
[2 Corinthians
6:2] …Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of
salvation. We all have a problem with procrastination from time to time.
Have you ever put off writing a term paper, paying a bill, purchasing Christmas
gifts, mowing your yard, completing a house project, cleaning your house, doing
the laundry, or filing your tax return? While procrastination in these and
other areas will not cost you your life, there is at least one area where
procrastination poses an extreme danger. Toward the end of Acts 24, we find
Felix and his wife Drusilla wanting to hear Paul concerning the faith in
Christ. (vs. 24). Paul preached such things as “righteousness, self-control,
and the judgment to come.” Felix stopped him and said, “Go away for now; when I
have a convenient time I will call for you” (vs. 25). Did Felix’s
procrastination cost him his soul? One’s soul is too precious to put off
dealing with the sin problem (Romans 3:23). Half of 2022 is already gone, and
I’ll bet some of your New Year resolutions haven’t even gotten started. Was one
of them – returning to the Lord? Put it off no longer! Pride causes eternal
loneliness.
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