Arrogance we know better than God
1 Samuel 2:3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Philippians 2:3 So nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant that yourself {Pharisees}
James 4:16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
I think many of us believe we are in charge of our lives and our part of the world. We are educated and trained to get a profession, to work hard, to make goals and work toward them. Many look at marriage, joining personal and couple goals together and working toward an achievement committed by both for the greater good of both. Perhaps they work toward a home and maybe filling it with a couple of children. Maybe the goal is live and work hard, then travel frequently. We are each individuals with some similarities, but have different histories, different goals and dreams, different time management ideas, and we expect we will succeed. That’s the part many have issue with, I think. We are not always in charge. God is. We are supposed to be following the path He has set for us.
Our pastor thought he would study psychology and was all into it. God had other ideas, and let him know that the path he thought he should take was NOT the path God wanted him to take. And I for one, am very glad. He’s an awesome preacher/teacher/person.
Things happen, sometimes tragically, that change our path. It might be an accident, maiming in a war, some kind of crime you were exposed to and suffered, you may have never wished to marry and then meet the soulmate you did not realize you were looking for, but all sorts of things can happen in life that change our direction we have so arrogantly and confidently laid out.
God has a plan and a direction we are not made aware of until something happens to upset the path we have chosen. We are a cocky and arrogant bunch. At least here and in much of Europe, we believe we are in charge of our lives, our children’s’ lives, and we are rudely caught off guard when something unexpected happens and goal train is de-railed.
Sometimes it is this derailment which brings us to seek God and ask ‘why’ and maybe finally, ‘OK, so what now? Where do I go from here? What’s Your plan?’
Certainly, I can call myself arrogant. Although I recognize God is in charge, I make my plans and perfectly believe they will be carried out. But if something interferes with those plans, I can be cranky, confused, even angry. That is really beyond arrogant; it is being a spoiled brat, expecting to have my way for all time. But my way may certainly NOT be God’s way or direction for me. I need to seek Him daily; determine what He wants me to fulfill, and if it is different than my plans, I better smoothly alter my original; as God will certainly throw up interference. You do remember Jonah saying no? He ran a great distance but he didn’t escape. I would prefer to learn my lesson by absorbing Jonah’s tale than seeing what would happen if I chose not to do as God directed.
Adam and Eve were arrogant enough to think they could be just like God by eating of the tree of Knowledge. For them too, the choice to act arrogantly and against God got them into trouble, years of trouble.
Maybe because God gifted us with reason and a higher mental acuity, we think we can rule all in our lives. We can rule a lot. We set the acceptable and non acceptable rules for our household, and we can enforce those standards. But in the long run, we should be prepared to have our paths of arrogance interrupted and learn to seek God’s will, or just try to be humble and search Him for how He wants you to serve His kingdom.
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