Demetrius was a famous sculptor. His sculptures were lifelike. One day he had a dream that after fifteen days, the Demon of Death would come to take him. Demetrius prepared nine statues of himself and then on the 15th day he heard the Demon of Death coming, he took his place between the statues. The demon could not recognize him and was astonished to see ten Demetrius‘ instead of one.
He rushed back to the God of Death, the devil, and told the matter. The devil got annoyed. He set out to take Demetrius himself. Demetrius was alert and stood motionless. The God of Death initially got perplexed. But he thought for a moment.
He said, "Demetrius, these sculptures would have been perfect but for one mistake". Demetrius unable to suffer the possibility of the least blemish in his work cried out "Where is the fault?" The god of Death caught him and said, "HERE". The statues were faultless but Demetrius was caught because of his pride.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
There is a record I‘d like to consider with you in this issue exemplifying this very verse. What is interesting about the following record is not only the destruction pride can bring, even to a king, but what God can do when we humble ourselves.
If you read the preceding verses you will find that the king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which no one could interpret except Daniel. The sad part about this dream was the consequences could have been avoided. Pride blinded the heart and eyes of the great king Nebuchadnezzar and he fell victim to his blindness.
Daniel 4:27-28 27Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
This was his chance but his pride got in the way and…
28All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 4:29-37 29At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31While the word was in the king‘s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. 34And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119 the following.
Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
Sometimes people need to get themselves so deep into trouble before they will become broken and humbled and admit they were wrong and reach out to God. I can attest to that. It wasn‘t until I was arrested several times and then facing jail time that I humbled myself and called out to God. And you know what? Not too long after I started to search, God sent me someone to teach me His word. I never found God, He found me, for I was the one who was lost.
Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
Sometimes you have to get to the end of yourself before you try God. It should not be that hard but we make it so.
Pride never helps anyone. Those who retain their pride only hurt themselves.
BBE Psalm 19:13 Keep your servant back from sins of pride; let them not have rule over me: then will I be upright and free from great sin.
One day the LORD will deal with the sin of pride once and for all.
Isaiah 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
On the outside, Donna looked like she had it all together. She always wore a smile and never looked frazzled or tired. Her secret? A mask. It was easy to look all together wearing a mask. No matter how out of sorts on the inside she felt, her mask was always smiling. No matter how bad the sickness from which she suffered was her mask always looked healthy and vibrant. Only there are a lot of problems with wearing a mask.
For one, it kept her from getting better. Underneath the mask, Donna was suffering, tormented and depressed, and the mask only trapped it all inside, making it worse and keeping her from getting help. She wore the mask so well that others had no idea she was so tormented! Do you know what the name of the mask was? Pride!
God loves us so much that He sent his son to die for us. The will of God was a difficult service for the Lord Jesus Christ to accept and perform. Sometimes in our lives the will of God can be difficult too. Unlike Jesus Christ who always did the Father‘s will, at times we tend to live contrary to God‘s Will.
When this occurs God allows us to stray because He has given us free will. However He is always there with grace and mercy to receive us back when we learn our lesson. Problem is, just like the mask, some people don‘t learn easy. But even in the middle of the trials and tribulations we bring upon ourselves God is able to make lemonade out of lemons. But sometimes this lesson must be forged in the furnace of affliction.
To be continued… ÿ