Pride, Forgiveness and the Comfort of Jesus

Often as Christians we struggle with forgiving ourselves for past sins. This may sound harsh, but I feel the root is pride. We tend to think we are much further along the sanctification highway than we really are. Until our deaths, we will all continue to struggle with our sinful desires that are in opposition to God's plan for us. Why are we shocked by this? God isn't! God is not done with us until heaven.

For those of us who have walked with God a long while, it is easy to become secure in the blessings and the hedges of protection God has given us. What happens when those are stripped away? For seven years God had me in an incubator of security, spiritual connection and church family. I thought those blessings were permanent. They weren't.

For the past several years I have seen that incubator stripped away and that hedge broken in multiple places. My initial response was to pray and seek God. However, as the losses mounted, I sought Him less and less. I fell into the pit of self-focus, self-pity, whining, grumbling, complaining, and depression. I had begun, however subtly, to believe that God "owed" me those things. God will not allow us to have idols, even Christian ones such as service, fellowship etc. He is the only true source of permanancy and sufficiency in our lives. Turned out He knew I hadn't grown in Him quite as much as I had thought. How easily pride can creep in!

I spent much of my life growing up viewing God as my enemy. He wasn't there to help me. He was there to set impossible standards and then to condemn me when I failed to live up to them. When difficulties come, I can still fall back into old thought patterns and coping mechanisms without even realizing it. What old patterns are you falling into? What has happened in your life that you never saw coming? What are you just shaking your head at because you never thought it was possible, either in yourself or in someone else? What did you think was permanent that is now gone?

The bare bones reality is that God is either who He says He is or He is not. He is either perfect, pure, all knowing, all sufficient or He is a fraud. Pick one, but for goodness sakes, don't try to straddle the picket fence. He says His plans for us are for good, not for harm. If so, how do you explain all the hurt in the world? Is God telling the truth?

Not only is God telling the truth, He is the TRUTH. I believe we get discouraged because we view things from our limited vantage point. If this world was all there is, then you are right, life isn't fair. But this world is the forward of the book. Eternity is the novel. Eternity is the adventure. Eternity is perfection and it is real and it is coming sooner than we know.

For those of you who are struggling with your own shortcomings, go to God, confess and ask forgiveness. It is the privilege He died to give us. Do you think He is going to deny you? He is waiting with open arms to accept you just as you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. He is calling you. Block out the voices of pride and condemnation in your head and replace it with the still small voice of Jesus. Come, dear one, let Him comfort you today.