"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. . . . I never made a sacrifice. We ought not to talk of 'sacrifice' when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us."
-David Livingstone
It's been on my mind recently, throughout this week and occasionally in the past month, that I seek praise far too often. Ever at all is too often, and I am certain I do it more than once daily.
As I was walking yesterday (or possibly the day before) I overheard just a snippet of conversation from one of my friends. He was quoting a verse from the Bible about boasting in what we can do. That was all I heard, but it made me think. Obviously it didn't make me think long enough, however, because today I began to do the same thing. Again.
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
-2 Corinthians 10:17-18
How on earth can I claim to follow God, say that I have given Him everything, expect to be used by Him, when I am so caught up in making sure that I get the recognition for things that I have done? Honestly, that is purely arrogant of me. I could not breathe if it were not for my God. Have you ever thought of that? He is so vital to your life, so entwined in your existence that if we were to remove Him our lives would simply cease to exist.
Excuse me while I scold myself...
Seriously.
I was challenged with a question while reading Crazy Love (Francis Chan) today. It's a quote from God Is the Gospel (John Piper).
"The critical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"
To be honest, my first thought was no. No way, ever. And I still hold to that. But I don't know that I had ever actually considered that before. I have no desire to ever be in any place, no matter how wonderful, without my God being right there beside me. I would rather be here with all the troubles of this world than be without Him.
If I claim that He has that importance to me, then why do I still continue to try to take the glory that He deserves? Why do I make a big deal of the pain I am in hoping someone will notice and give me sympathy or encouraging compliments about how well I am doing in spite of my "suffering"? When I do little things and continually drop subtle hints so that someone will notice them or when I repeat the things I have done that might be worthy of praise again and again until they are recognized I am only taking the glory and the attention from God. I am taking my own attention from Him and the attention I am forcing others to give to me.
The ironic thing about all this is that whenever I do get someone to notice what I have done, however seemingly significant (though terribly insignificant in the grander scheme of things) it is, I don't feel good about it at all. I feel dirty and as if I had stolen something. And didn't I? I stole God's glory.
In reality, "I never made a sacrifice."
I never made a sacrifice except that I robbed myself of the heavenly reward I might have received if I had not said a word.
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
-Matthew 6:1-4
Well I guess I'll start this off by saying thank you for these words. In reading through them I have been blessed by your insight and humility as I see you face the struggles and situations God's put you through. However this doesn't end here! The next clue lies in the hands of one you've looked up to this summer and have learned from; however, her current location is unknown and she could be anywhere from here to the farm. In order to get this next piece of the puzzle, you must encourage her and say the password, which is "Pink Fluffy Unicorns". Good luck agent.
ReplyDelete(Proverbs 3:5-6)