Doubt and Pride

When I'm at work, I tend to think about things at home. Did that bill get paid? When can I find time to clean? Should I have done those few chores before I left this morning?

But when I'm at home, I tend to think about things at work. Will that source be available for an interview on Monday or should I have done it before I left? Did I make all the corrections in that story or did some slip through? Was my writing good enough this week to prevent anyone from being disappointed?

This cycle of thinking, worrying and doubting is a dangerous, ugly place to be. It's unproductive and spirals into nothingness - literally. It doesn't help you come up with new and wonderful ideas. It doesn't help you remember what needs to be done. And it definitely doesn't help you feel better about what you're actually accomplishing during the day.

God never intended for our brains to be whirling constantly. This is self inflicted and pointless for the task at hand. How can we give glory and honor and praise to the Lord when we can't even shut our minds off for a few minutes to focus on Him?

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Anything beyond these two instructions is vanity, writes the author of Ecclesiastes. It's futile and destructive and prideful. So here's what all this thinking in circles comes down to:  

1. Worry leads to doubt, and doubt destroys whatever common sense you might have.

2. Self-doubt goes against God's view of you because He delights in you.

3. People-pleasing is a poor position. You can never accomplish it, no matter how hard you try.

4. It all comes down to pride, that nasty, icky word. Pride tells us we have to be better, stronger, faster, more efficient in all things. Scripture doesn't say that, God doesn't say that and we shouldn't be telling ourselves that.

But if we peel away all the extra stuff, all the thinking and worrying and being prideful, we actually end up with those two instructions flashing at us in neon.

Fear God and keep His commandments. If we're spending time in study, we'll understand His expectations and know what those commandments are. And if we're spending time in prayer, building a relationship with our Heavenly Father, we'll understand the healthy fear of reverence before an omnipotent God.

These two thoughts can fill our minds, driving away all the doubt and pride that clutter up our daily life.

What a peaceful place it is in the presence of God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet...
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee...
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit...
Read more