Isaiah 26:12 Lord, you establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

I know I’ve written on this verse before, perhaps within the past year, but its truth just shouts to me. When we get this through our hearts and minds, personal pride and conceit are completely out of the picture. Like Paul said, when everything we have was given to us by God, why do we boast? (1 Corinthians 4:7) Men in particular (as opposed to women) like pride of accomplishment. Satisfaction in a job well done is a good thing, but it should be accompanied by a deep gratitude that God provided the ability, the circumstances, and the resources for it to happen. It is when we forget that it is God who makes everything possible that we get into deep trouble. Yesterday I watched a video clip of Stephen Fry, a noted atheist, answering a question from an interviewer as to what questions he would have for God, should he die and discover He really exists. His response was quite pathetic, really, because he focused on negatives and said that if God does exist he must be a monster. I found that very ironic, because Stephen Fry is a very gifted man, highly intelligent, and yet he fails to credit God with any of that, choosing to focus instead on such things as disgusting parasitic worms. He will not, with that attitude, experience the peace that Isaiah says so accurately that God provides for us.

I write frequently about how God has rescued me from conceit, from taking personal credit for the abilities He has placed in me. I concur totally with Isaiah here. However, I face the risk of being proud of my humility! I know from sometimes painful experience that we are amazingly capable of deceiving ourselves, so I don’t try to analyze my own motives, other than to submit them to God. If I am properly submitted to Him, then I will be able to resist the devil consistently, regardless of what tricks he uses. (James 4:7) Because conceit has been such a trap for me in the past I am particularly sensitive to it, but I’m sure I have plenty of blind spots. I am to keep my focus on my Lord, in gratitude and obedience, and let Him show me how I need to keep growing so as better to represent Him to the world. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Father, thank You for all You do through me. Help me be more open, more obedient, so that You may do all that You desire. I am prone to wanting You to do something without making myself available as Your instrument. Forgive my foolishness and my laziness. May I be diligent at all that You set for me to do, making full use of both the opportunities and the resources You provide, so that Your Name may be hallowed and Your kingdom come as Your will is done in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!