Recently I was reading Deuteronomy 9:4. Here the writer is reminding the people of Israel about how the Lord God led them through the desert and is about to lead them into the Promised Land. When they cross over and conquer the inhabitants, they are to remember who was responsible for their victory.
"After the LORD your God has done this for you, don't say to yourselves, 'The Lord has given us this land because we are so righteous!'"
It is great to win, to succeed, to accomplish what we set out to do. But when we do this we need to remember that it could not have happened without God.
"Lord, forgive me that when life's circumstances lift me to the crest of the wave, I tend to forget you. Yet, like an errant child, I have blamed you with my every failure, even as I credit myself with every success. When my fears evaporate like the morning mist, then vainly I imagine that I am sufficient unto myself, that material resources and human resources are enough. I need you when the sun shines, lest I forget the storm and the dark. I need you when I am popular, when my friends and those who work beside me approve and compliment me. I need you more then, lest my head begin to swell. O God, forgive me for my stupidity, my blindness in success, my lack of trust in you. Be my Savior in success. Save me from conceit. Save me from pettiness. Save me from myself! And take this success, I pray, and use it for your glory. In your strength, I pray. Amen."
Peter Marshall (1902-1949)
Rich Thornton, Friendship Community
"After the LORD your God has done this for you, don't say to yourselves, 'The Lord has given us this land because we are so righteous!'"
It is great to win, to succeed, to accomplish what we set out to do. But when we do this we need to remember that it could not have happened without God.
"Lord, forgive me that when life's circumstances lift me to the crest of the wave, I tend to forget you. Yet, like an errant child, I have blamed you with my every failure, even as I credit myself with every success. When my fears evaporate like the morning mist, then vainly I imagine that I am sufficient unto myself, that material resources and human resources are enough. I need you when the sun shines, lest I forget the storm and the dark. I need you when I am popular, when my friends and those who work beside me approve and compliment me. I need you more then, lest my head begin to swell. O God, forgive me for my stupidity, my blindness in success, my lack of trust in you. Be my Savior in success. Save me from conceit. Save me from pettiness. Save me from myself! And take this success, I pray, and use it for your glory. In your strength, I pray. Amen."
Peter Marshall (1902-1949)
Rich Thornton, Friendship Community
Comments