Saturday, November 28, 2009

Pride vs. Humility

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. James 4:6b

The last two chapters of the book of James offer yet another contrast; that of proud boasting and planning pitted against a person who has bowed their hearts in humble submission and prayer. There is a sense that God uses the difficult things in life, or the circumstances that we strive to avoid, to produce Christ-likeness in our lives.

Chapter 4 speaks of submission to God. There are many things that can take the place of trusting in God. We are warned of “friendship with the world and its ways” as a source of intense envy on God’s part (See James 4:4-5), and is one way that we break the first commandment by placing other things in the place of God (Exodus 20:2). Our self-sufficiency is another way that we can let things slip in and take the place of God, as are good planning (James 4:12-17) or our trust in riches (James 5:1-6). God opposes these things.

Chapter 5 speaks of ways and circumstances that God uses to work in our lives, often bringing us to our knees in prayer. Suffering and sickness can do this. Shifting circumstances and situations where we know we are not in control magnifies our need for God’s presence in the hard stuff of life. They all show us that we are not masters of our own destiny and that our times are in God’s hands.

The interesting thing is that the things God uses to bring us close to Him can also run the risk of leading us away. They drive us to a prayer of Moses recorded in Psalm 90:12; a prayer from a man in the midst of changing, seemingly uncontrolled circumstances:

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

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