Lord, concerning your preparation of those who would serve you:
Does that not include a sifting so-to-speak?
Does it not include a time when we must see our sinful selves as plain as day--a time when we must endure you sifting out of us all that is selfish and prideful and egotistical?
Mustn’t we go through this so that we are better suited to following?
Mustn’t we be emptied of all things selfish in order to give more room for an infusion of your Holy Spirit?
It’s through humility that we can die to ourselves. And humility comes when pride has been stripped away—not politely asked to leave.
Pride will never bow.
Pride will stand defiant in the face of anything that would tell it to move out. It must be killed…slaughtered, really. And it will be hard. Pride will not go out without a fight.
I prayed for humility,
and a humbling came.
I prayed that there would
be no pride in me,
and my pride has been attacked.
Then the enemy rushed in to tear
me down while I was
feeling down.
The enemy came to enlist me
to fight for the very thing
I wanted you to kill.
And I fought!…for pride.
And I was miserable.
I’m tired of listening
to the lies of the enemy.
I’m tired of fighting for the
very thing I hate.
You, Lord, are preparing me.
Preparing me, maybe,
to do something.
But I think mostly, you're
preparing me to BE
just what I asked you to make me—
MORE LIKE YOU.
