“Too much pride can put you to shame.
It’s wiser to be humble.”
Proverbs 11:2
We can know what it is to be humble, we can even desire it yet still our pride wins in the tug for our behaviors, our lives, for our very souls.
I learned, yet again, the truth of the numerous proverbs on humility recently (will I ever just learn it for good?).
I turned on a social media site this summer and there it was, staring back at me … pride.
Actually it was a rather serious picture of our son, sharing his plans of an education/missions trip. He shared about it, about how the first three months would be at a school and the second would be at an outreach destination to apply what he learns, in a cross-cultural experience.
Now, I am a mighty proud mama of this homebody son of mine, and his choice to go away (almost literally halfway around the world) for six months is pure sacrifice on his part (and mine …). He loves God, but this program will challenge him in ways that neither he, nor his parents, can yet imagine.
But (there’s always a but) …
I’ve gotta say I cringed when I saw his GoFundMe. I hated that he asked for money … because …
because, well …
I am proud,
(and arrogant too)
It is ridiculous for me to feel this way. I love supporting others in their choices to be brave, to go and do the challenging. I get excited to provide financial means of support to others in their willingness to go and do what I have not done, what I have not been called to. I love being able to be the encourager of that young person who is getting out of their comfort zone, to do the hard things.
So, why do I struggle when my own son asked for support?
Pride
There is no other answer by pure, human pride.
Just a few hours later, God provided a corrective for my pride. I looked at his GoFundMe and saw that people actually donated to him. People who I knew, but also people who I had only heard of or had never heard of before. He has since received supportive, encouraging and joyful contributions.
And how do I feel each time there is a new one?
Humbled … in such a good way.
My pride could have gotten in the way of my relationship with my son, my pride could have gotten in the way of those who gave, my pride could have gotten in the way of seeing how God works through his people, my pride could have gotten in the way of my learning to be humble.
In all of this, I am humbled, thankful and I know that, when we let our needs be known, God will work through the hands and feet of his people.
itsawonderfilledlife 