October 18

“It is significant that there are two occurrences of stoning mentioned in the New Testament--Stephen’s and Paul’s.  Was it coincidence that God allowed Paul to be stoned in the same manner as Stephen had been?...If pride could blind Paul to God once, pride could do it again.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 10/1

My excuse for not readily obeying God is that I’m afraid it might be my own desires that I’m obeying and not God’s will.  My concern is how would I know the difference.  After all, Paul truly believed he was doing God’s will when he had Stephen stoned.  As Blackaby went on to talk about Paul’s thorn in his side as a possible reminder of his earlier blunder--that it may have been caused by the stoning that he subsequently received--I realized I no longer have an excuse.  Rather than looking for a solution to my dilemma I’d been hiding behind my excuse.  I can wait for God to show me my sin of disobedience through some “stoning” in my life, or I can go ahead and correct the situation.  It was Paul’s pride in being a religious zealot that allowed him to be blinded to God in the first place.  It is plain, therefore, to see that my disobedience is directly in proportion to my pride.  Rather than “work on” my ability to correctly discern God’s will, it’s clear to me it’s my sin of pride that I must correct.  I must continually be empty of that pride so that God’s love can fill my heart with Him.  Then the desire of my heart will be to do His will.

“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, whose dwelling is high, who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’  Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, thence I will bring you down, says the LORD.”  Obadiah 1:3, 4