Do I Have That Problem?

I recently noticed I kept running across a certain theme in writing Sunday School lessons. And, since I don’t believe in coincidences, I finally had to prayerfully consider whether God was telling me something. The theme that kept popping up was humility.

First, in writing middle school lessons from Genesis, it was Jacob having to humble himself before the brother he’d wronged. Then, in writing adult lessons from Deuteronomy, Moses, lest the Children of Israel get a big head, kept reminding them they weren’t chosen because they were the greatest or most numerous of the nations but rather because of God’s love and faithfulness to His promises. And, lest they be tempted to take the credit or give themselves the glory, he kept emphasizing to them that the nations in the Promised Land were stronger and mightier than them. It was only because the Lord was driving those nations out for their wickedness that Israel would be able to take possession of their land. Next, I started a new study for teens from Mark and, of course, found myself writing about John the Baptist’s humility. Even with his miraculous birth, his special God-given role that had been prophesied in the Old Testament, and his incredibly successful ministry, John was not prideful at all. He lived and ate humbly.  He insisted he wasn’t even worthy to unloose the shoes of the one so much mightier than him who was coming after him, than Jesus, the Messiah, the one able to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Like I said, the humility theme just kept coming up.

I think, if we’re honest, we all struggle with pride to some extent. After all, it was our first sin. We weren’t content as God created us but wanted the fruit He placed off limits so we would know good and evil like Him. We were, in pride, reaching above our station. And, we all appreciate compliments and words of affirmation more than we probably should. So, it’s not like I was under the impression that I never struggled with pride. Still, I didn’t really want to consider that I was walking around with a major pride problem. I didn’t want to think I had a big head or an inflated ego. After all, how off-putting are those personality traits?! 

As I was soul-searching, I couldn’t help remembering a certain yard-mowing incident from last week. Back in November, I caught whooping cough, and I cannot seem to get rid of the cough. Now, I don’t mean that I cough a little bit each day. I mean it’s not at all unusual for me to cough so much and so hard that I get light-headed multiple times a day. But, my backyard was turning into a jungle. It was a little past time for the first mowing of the year, and I didn’t want to let it reach the point that I had to sweet talk my Dad into bush hogging it for me. 

My mower, of course, hadn’t been started since the last time I mowed the yard last year, and thanks to all the coughing, I don’t exactly have an abundance of energy at the end of the day, so last Tuesday, multiple times throughout the day, I prayed about being able to get the mower to start because I knew I was not going to have enough left in the tank to mow the yard if I also had to tug and pull on the starter cord for 20 to 30 minutes. 

When I got home from work, I could see and hear that Dad was mowing my parents’ yard because they live across the road from me. I went inside to consume some food and caffeine for energy and then went back outside to mow. I got the push mower out of the shed, and it started on the second pull. I was so excited! (Sometimes, it’s the little things!)

I started mowing the backyard, and it wasn’t going particularly well. By that, I mean, I was pushing the mower with one hand while coughing my head off into my other elbow. Still, when my Dad finished their yard and came over and started working on my front yard while I was mowing in the back, I waved him off twice and hollered (between coughs) that I had it. Probably because he could hear my coughs over both of the running lawn mowers, he ignored me and kept mowing. 

I finished the backyard but used the rescue inhaler and took some cough syrup before finishing the side and probably would have hyperventilated or passed smooth out if Dad hadn’t mowed the front and the other side. 

It’s not surprising that this little adventure came to mind when I was soul-searching about a pride problem. I realized that, not only am I almost incapable of asking for help, but I don’t even accept it when it’s handed to me on a silver platter. After all, I had prayed for help starting the mower. The Lord did that and sent help with the mowing too. But, my self-sufficient, incredibly stubborn self received it, well, less than gracefully. Yep, there might be a pride problem there… Just maybe…

Sometimes, I think we’re too quick to dismiss it when similar topics and themes keep coming up in Sunday sermons or Sunday School lessons or our personal Bible study. We choose not to give it much thought because we don’t want to ask ourselves, “Is that for me? Do I have that problem?” After all, if we ask those questions, the yes might be too loud and resounding to ignore. Then, we’d have to face the humbling part–repentance, followed by the super challenging part–change. (At least, we would unless we chose to ignore the Lord’s correction, which is never a good idea.) But, it’s important to remember that the Lord’s correction and His nudging us to address areas where we need to change are expressions of His love for us. Does anyone want to have to admit to and address a pride problem or an anger problem or an honesty problem or fill in the blank with whatever problem? No. Are we better for it when we admit to our faults and failings and address them? Yes. Is it evidence of God’s goodness when He brings them to our attention? Absolutely. Conviction, though admittedly unpleasant to experience, is a gift. And, some prayerful soul-searching and asking, “Do I have that problem?” is never a bad idea. 

“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Hebrews 12:6