The kind of pride that says, "I
can do it myself." often makes life more difficult. But,
when the "it" in question is something that only God can
do, the results can be devastating... not only to the person trying to take over, but those around them as well.
The story of Moses has been my favorite
since I was a toddler. When I was four I saved my banana peel from
lunch and glued it to my coloring paper where the water and the reeds
had already been drawn. I was devastated when my mom threw it away.
I
remember, nearly a decade later, hearing about people using clear
shellac to make fruits and veggies last for decorative purposes and
thinking to myself, “That's what Mom should have done with my
banana peel baby Moses boat. Darn her!" I was still mad. (I'm mostly over it now, just in case you were wondering.)
Anyway, we know that Moses was born and adopted
into the house of Pharaoh. He grew up knowing that he was Hebrew,
basically raised by his own birth family. At some point while growing
up, Moses became aware that he was their promised deliverer. Knowing
that, he no doubt knew that God had set out a specific time frame for
the delivering of His people. In Genesis 15:13, God told Abraham that
his descendants would be delivered in 400 years.
Yet, when Moses came upon a Hebrew
being mistreated by an Egyptian, Moses killed the Egyptian. According
to Acts 7:23 he did it in the hopes of being recognized as their
deliverer.
Why? Because He believed it was time to
to start the process. He was their deliverer, right? They may not
know it yet, but they would see it when they realized what happened.
He expected to be able to do what He wanted, when He wanted, in his
own strength and have his people fall at his feet, thankful.
It was the next day when Moses realized
that things had not gone as he had planned... and he hightailed it
out of town. Exodus 12:40 says that it was exactly 430 years before
they were delivered. That is including Moses's 40 years in the
desert. His own pride cost the Hebrews an additional 30 years of
slavery.
I personally know that God did not want
me to be homeless. It was never His plan and neither were any of the
things that led up to our homelessness. But, I knew His promises. I
knew that He wanted to provide for the kids and I. I knew that He
didn't want me to be single the rest of my life. I knew that God
promised to give me the desires of my heart... so I set out after
them, in my own strength. I thought I should have been able to do
what I wanted, when I wanted, and God's promises would back me up.
By the time I realized that things
weren't going to go exactly as planned for me, I was stuck. It took
In both of these cases, the "I can
do it myself" pride cost people big. Moses and I both thought we
knew what God wanted for us and decided to help move His plans along.
As tired as I've become over the years
of hearing the words, "It's all in God's timing." I do see that there are some things that can't be rushed.
I've learned that the secret to living a fulfilling life when you don't yet have all you want is to enjoy the journey on your way there instead of speeding ahead towards your destination. God will fulfill His promises for you. If you watch carefully, you'll find out that watching HOW He does so is more exciting than receiving the actual thing you are waiting for.
The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.
Exodus 14:14
Only by pride comes contention, with the well advised there is wisdom.
Proverbs 13:10
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