You’re Not a God

On one of my first trips to the Holy Land, I was having dinner one night in the hotel when I saw Oral Roberts eating by himself. I asked if I could have dinner with him. He was pleased to have some company. We talked about many things, but the thing I remember most was a question I asked him about healing. He quickly said that when he remembered that God does the healing, he saw people being healed. When he thought he was doing the healing, he lost the gift. I have always remembered this because there were times in Oral Robert’s life he was really doing a lot of good. There were also times when his influence faded.

C.S. Lewis saw pride as a vice of the “utmost evil” and the chief cause of misery. He called it a “spiritual cancer” that eats up the very possibility of love, contentment and even common sense.

Pride has been a problem throughout the ages. God warned the leader of the powerful coastal city of Tyre against his pride. He said the king’s pride would result in his downfall. Ezekiel 28:6-7 says, “Because you think you are as wise as a god, I’m going to bring foreigners against you.” He would know then that he was not a god but a mortal. (v. 9)

The opposite of pride is humility. Lewis said as we get in touch with God, we become “delightedly humble.” The more we worship God, the more we’ll know Him and the more we can humble ourselves before Him. The humbler we become, we lose our own dignity that made us restless and unhappy. May we today serve God with love and serve Him with joy and humility.

Prayer: God, help me to understand that You created me. You are great and mighty and yet You love me. Amen.

Ezekiel 28:2 – “In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god.”

By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
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