Pride

Psalm 138v 6 “Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but He keeps his distance from the proud.”

“I give you thanks, O lord, with all my heart; I will sing your praises…..I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness…..you encourage me by giving me strength….you reach out your hand and the power of your right hand saves me…the Lord is great! David had his faults, but he also wrote some of the most uplifting psalms or songs in the bible like this one. He also danced in the streets much to the embarrassment of his wife unembarrassed himself as he was dancing before the Lord ( 2 Samuel 6v14)

Of course, I am often proud. I have had three children and have just become a grandma for the third time. Seeing your children perform at a school concert, your daughter accepting a winning medal at a hockey tournament, the only girl on the team, seeing them grow up to be productive adults and then the surprise of those toothless grins from grandchildren. Oh yes, a proud Mom, a proud granny. Blessed.

However, spending so much time with myself during enforced lockdowns I have been faced with the other side of pride. You know the side that thinks so highly of the self it gets frustrated and angry as vacations are cancelled, family visits are reduced to small gatherings, zoom meetings get tired and when you do meet people all you can think about are your own problems and lack the patient to listen to others as no one has it worse than you!

And then I even started complaining about God. Show me a sign, what do you want from me? Demanding something big to show me the way! Then a little frustrated and a little sad, and some angry, I put my pride aside, and turned my thoughts to what do others need at this time as things begin to return to a new “normal” ? During the process of organizing things to teach others about God, doing the routine tasks around the house, and reaching out for help from others I found peace and joy. I found God was with me on this journey of life , in the excitement of working with others as a team, in the pleasure of preparing a meal for my family and listening to the conversation around the table. So, like David let’s sing his praises and dance for Him.

https://youtu.be/b8XENZHc0as Amen.