The Danger of Self-Promotion

You may know people who seem to be legends in their own minds.  They are impressed with either who they are or what they have done or perhaps both.  They are continually reminding themselves and anyone who will listen of their awesomeness…

They show up in business, entertainment, and unfortunately in communities of faith.  They are incessant self-promoters.

If I am reading the Scripture correctly, the Lord is not really fond of this type of behavior.  Consider Psalm 5:5 (here @ Bible Gateway) and 1 Peter 5:5 – 6 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Those are not the only places the idea appears in the Word but they are good starting places to begin to follow the thread.

1 Peter 5:5 – 6 (here @ Bible Gateway) brings another thought to mind about the relationship between younger men and older men.  It is something that I have watched unfold over the past 30 years or so.  I will leave that to the next post.

Back to self-promotion – based on just the two verses above, those who are self-impressed, will not stand before God and are resisted by Him.

Based on what I have been able to glean from Bible study over the years, being in a position that the Lord resists renders pretty much all effort futile.

When I read passages like this, it drives me to my knees begging the Lord to deliver me from any hint of self-promotion.  David’s prayer in Psalm 139:23 – 24 (here @ Bible Gateway), is a good model.  I need deliverance from any notion of self-promotion.

Light in the Darkness

You may remember that these posts mostly come from my journals.  I have written about this particular post once before.  But, as I was looking through the journal this morning, the context of the post reminded me of another way in which the Lord sustains us.

In January of last year, my dad passed away after a multi-year bout with cancer.  In April of 2017, my wife and I had just returned home from the reading and probate of his will.  At the same time, another close relative was battling cancer an hour south of dad’s house.  That situation was deteriorating.

In my journal I record the date and time I begin and the location.  Under that I record the passages I intend to read.  At times I will make a note directly after that about what may be going on, or something I am thinking about or struggling through.

This entry was different.

I wrote the note about the struggle before I wrote down the passages I was going to read.  That is so rare a practice as to be notable.

I wrote, “I have been numb for the past two three days.  Lord please revive my spirit.”

He did.

He did it through His Word.

While I did not pray Psalm 119:18 (here @ Bible Gateway) specifically, the intent, the plea was the same.  I am grateful and overwhelmed by the way the Lord will meet with us in His Word.  He meets us in our pain, our joy, through our tears, and in the midst of our laughter.

He uses His Word as a balm for our anguish.  He pierces the darkness of our despair with the light of His presence.

All we have to do is open the Book and admit we are in need.

CrowdSourcing

Crowdsourcing is a thing.  People are developing GoFundMe sites for many reasons, some really good, some not so much.  It’s a new thing, right?

No.

There were at least three, by my count, in Exodus, without an internet...

Exodus 12:33 – 36 (here @ Bible Gateway) – The Egyptians crowdsourced the exodus of Israel.
Exodus 32:1 – 6 (here @ Bible Gateway) – Israel crowdsourced the golden calf.
Exodus 35:20 – 23 (here @ Bible Gateway) – Israel crowdsourced the Tabernacle

So like most of what we think we came up with, it was really God’s idea.