Proverbs 3:5-12 I know you’ve tried your best, but your best isn’t good enough.” If someone said those discouraging words to you, your thoughts might be something like, Whoa! Come on, I’ve been doing my best. Surely, that’s worth something! Well, yes and no. Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Isaiah 64:6 reads: “We’re all sin-infected, sin-contaminated. Our best efforts are grease-stained rags” (MSG). Besides, objectively speaking, it’s possible that our best might not meet the mark, due to a lack of experience, knowledge, or skill. So while it is only right that we do our very best, it is never right when we take pride in our best efforts. Pride is a Christian’s greatest enemy. It inclines us to depend on our own understanding and not to seek God’s will in all that we do. As Christians, we are always to be learning to say, “I can’t live up to this demand, I can’t do this thing that is asked of me; but He can, therefore I can.” Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, was a marvelous example. He wrote: “It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than me; for in the easiest positions He must give me grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient. So, if God places me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength?” God knows how easily I can be “impressed with [my] own wisdom” (Proverbs 3:7) and desire that my best efforts be noticed and rewarded. As my loving Father, He corrects me (Proverbs 3:11-12). So, when you receive a disparaging remark for your best effort, stop and consider: Is my loving Father teaching me a lesson in humility? LESSON IN HUMILITY
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 07:41:38 +0000
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