Flash forward to the next day
I don't normally check up on the blog more than a couple times a week. I write a draft of Friday's post around Wednesday, proof it Thursday, it goes up Friday, then I leave it alone until the next week when I go to write that week's post. I don't see the stats of the blog until I go to write a new post.
Well, last week I decided to check up on everything on Sunday, and when I did, I saw something unexpected...
That blog post exploded.
I don't know what happened, all I can say is all glory to God, but whatever the reasons for why that certain post got so many views, it got me thinking about what this post is going to be about: Pride.
This topic has been on my heart for quite some time, and I decided now would be a good time to write about it.
As a performer, and now writer, I've found that sometimes the numbers and praise can easily get to my head. People will compliment me on my work, or a certain post will get a lot of views or likes and comments, and it's so easy for me to start accepting the glory rather than pass it on to the One it should be handed to.
There's a line in one of my favorite songs called "O God Forgive Us" (the version with KB) by For KING & COUNTRY that says, "we're so busy doing Your work that we forgot that this was for You."
That line resonated with me the first time I heard it, but I had no idea how hard it would hit me in the months to follow.
Sometimes I can get into the mindset that I'm always right. I've written about it before, but I'm a bit of a control freak, and I'm also quite a bit of a perfectionist. Maybe not all of you can relate to this from the perspective of someone who's in the spotlight, but I'm pretty sure you can relate to struggling with humility in some way or another.
We've all been there, and if you haven't been yet, brace yourself because it's coming one day.
The whole reason evil exists in this world is because of pride. Ezekiel 28:12-19
Pride is the reason our enemy was cast out of Heaven.
And if we're not careful to catch it and humble ourselves, our pride can do much the same to us.
I don't know about you guys, but I have a hard time humbling myself. A lot of it is simply because most of the time, I just don't know how. I'm (very slowly) learning to submit myself to Christ, and put others above myself, and stop believing that I'm all that. But there's a fine line between being confident and being prideful, just as there is a fine line between humility and thinking poorly of yourself. Those lines require daily effort to not cross over, and often times, we can find that we've in fact stepped over... So how do we find the balance between? How do we humble ourselves in the healthy way God intended us to?
Psalms 46:10 says, "be still and know I am God."
I've found that's our answer.
Whenever you just stop what you're doing, and choose to set aside all the distractions of this world and focus on who God is... It's humbling.
When you put down the phone, step away from all of the praise, and don't do anything but pray and focus on Him for awhile, He reveals to you the condition of your heart.
If you ask Him to humble you, and you ask Him to open the eyes of your heart, He will.
He always will.
No matter how many times you have to ask it.
My friend, don't let the praise and attention make you prideful.
Believe me, it's not worth it.
God invites us to humble ourselves, and be still in His presence. When we choose to do that, fix our eyes on Him, and point up after we take a bow, (whether that be figuratively or literally) it's like a breath of fresh air to our souls.
Let's step out of our worlds for a moment...
and breathe.
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