Pebble In Your Shoe

There is nothing worse than getting a pebble in your shoes when you are running.  That tiny, seemingly innocent pebble over the miles can destroy your feet!  At first you try to ignore it because you don't want to take the time to stop and remove your shoe, but if you continue down this path you could end up with massive blisters which make running painful if not impossible.  It is always best to remove the pebble right away even though it means stopping.  You don't want a pebble to ruin your run that day or in the days to come, but if you don't remove it that is exactly what it will do!

These pebbles remind me of pride.  Pride sneaks in, silently at first, but left to bounce around in your shoe it can destroy Gods plan for you and the relationships you are in.  Pride is a sneaky one, you have to keep an eye out for it!  I know that I really struggle with pride and I am thankful that God has made me aware of the struggle over the years.  I never used to recognize it until it was a huge, painful "blister" in my life, but now I try to get it at the pebble stage.

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

My Pastor gave a powerful message on this just this week, which was divine because pride is something I have been praying about lately.  Pastor Conan said that pride makes us harder for God to work with and that hit home.  I certainly don't want to be hard for God to work with!  I want to be easy for God to work with, I want to serve Him in every way I can, and that means that I need to take the back stage while still putting in full effort!  The flesh hates this, it screams "look at me, look at me!" But to have a humble spirit we have to move out of the spot light!  I try to remind myself that God sees everything that we do and that should be all the recognition and approval I need!  Pride certainly is sneaky, you can become prideful about being humble if you aren't careful!  Its a vicious cycle!  Praise God He is happy to help us become better in every area of our lives and I pray that one day the only pride I will have is in my Lord and savior and in those I love.

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less." C.S. Lewis

What a truly counter culture line of thinking! When we are humble we are able to elevate others above ourselves and help them to grow.  Everything society throws at us anymore tells us to get for ourselves whatever we want at any cost, but we are called to do the opposite, to put others first and worry less about ourselves!  We see it in our dog eat dog culture of today and it is sad.

James 3:16
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

As a Christian I am called to love, and love means that I have to put others first and to do that I cannot be filled with pride.  As I serve the Lord I realize that the triumphs are kingdom triumps and I am just grateful to be a part of that.  My reward is in heaven, an eternity spent with God.  Its hard to wrap my mind around that sometimes, its hard not want a pat on the back from time to time, but God can do that too, you don't have to seek gratification from others.  Sometimes when pride is removed God will give you a pat on the back in the form of a compliment from another person.  My husband told me that it is important to accept these compliments, and I believe He is right as long as you keep your focus on God and realize that the glory goes to Him!  When we let our hearts fill with pride we work so hard to be seen by others that we make ourselves miserable.  It'
s just never enough!

I'm taking off my shoes right now and dumping out any pebbles that may be forming.  I pray that every day God works on my heart and continues to change me.  These areas are truly a struggle for me, but with God anything is possible!

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.