Brought Low - Martin Wiles

They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the Lord heard them. Numbers 12:2 NLT

He envied the ducks—and wanted to be one.

As the turtle in the pond listened to the ducks describe their travels, he longed to visit the places they went. Of course, being a turtle, he couldn’t travel far or fast. One day, two of the ducks offered to help him. One of the ducks said, “We will each hold an end of a stick in our mouths. You hold the stick in the middle in your mouth, and we will carry you through the air so you can see what we see when we fly. But be quiet, or you will be sorry.”

Loving the idea, the turtle snapped onto the stick, and away they flew. Over the trees. Around meadows. He saw flowers on the hillside. This new perspective on the world amazed the turtle. 

As they flew across venues the turtle had never seen before, suddenly, a crow passed them. Seeing a flying turtle amazed the crow, who said, “Surely this must be the king of all turtles!”

When the turtle heard the crow’s remarks, he said, “Why certainly . . .”

But he never finished his statement. Opening his mouth caused him to lose his grip on the stick. He fell to the ground below—stripped of his newfound adventure, his life, and his pride.

Pride makes an awful bedfellow, as Aaron and Miriam discovered. They may have been Moses’ siblings, but this didn’t stop them from a prideful attitude that led them to think they should have a more significant part in leading the children of Israel to the Promised Land. When they complained, God humbled them—especially Miriam. Perhaps she had led the charade. A little temporary leprosy reminded her and Aaron of whom was in charge.

Selfish, sinful human nature makes it easy for pride to slip into our lives unawares. It did with Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He walked across the roof of his palace and marveled at the great kingdom he had built—or at least that’s what he thought. God brought him down by sending him into the fields to live as a wild animal for a period. As with Aaron and Miriam, he learned his lesson the hard way.

Pride causes us to forget our place. God is the Creator; we are the created. We don’t tell Him what to do; He tells us what to do. It might appear pride elevates us, but it takes us down a notch or two or three. Aaron seemed to have less pride than Miriam. When he saw God’s punishment for his sister, he humbly pleaded for her.

Pride can lead to relationship problems. Being friends with people who think they are better than us can be difficult, and being the spouse of one of those folks can be even more problematic.

The list of where pride can lead us is long: anger, selfishness, unreliable reasoning. Pride also opens us up to Satan’s temptations. After all, pride led to his downfall. He wasn’t satisfied with being an angel. He wanted to be God.

Remembering who we are and who God is keeps our perspective correct and lets humility reign instead of pride.

Don’t let a prideful spirit ruin your life.

Father, remind me often of who I am and of who you are. 

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