“Pride comes before a fall”….

Well actually the scripture reads “Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.”  Proverbs 16:18(NLT)

 So many times you hear people quote portions of that scripture versus relaying the complete verse.  (Please read scriptures in their entirety for yourself to ensure you are placing scriptures in your pocket whole and in context).  Now if you look at the words pride and haughtiness you would think they are one in the same, but I decided to look them up because if they were the same God would not have come up with two words to differentiate between the levels of a person’s demise.  I also decided to look up the words destruction and fall.

Pride, as seen in Proverbs 16:18, in the Hebrew is gâˀôwn (gaw-ohn’).  Now the interesting thing about this word is that it holds both a negative and positive connotation. 

The positive connotation= excellency and majesty.  It is found in the more poetic books of the bible.

The negative connotation ( and the way it is majorly used in the bible)= arrogance, evil behavior , and perverse speech.  It is a perversion of what God intended for it to be.  It entails one person or nation thinking that they elevated themselves to the level on which they currently stand or reside.

Destruction, in the Hebrew is shêber.  It means a fracture, ruin, breaking, affliction, bruise, crashing, broken footed or handed, or vexation. 

Haughtiness, as seen in Proverbs 16:18, in the Hebrew is gôbahh.  It means grandeur, high, height (as a noun),or  loftiness.

Fall, in the Hebrew is kishshâlôwn, which comes from kâshal (kaw-shal), means to stumble, stagger, totter, be thrown down.

So after I reviewed all of the meanings I realized that the A clause of the scripture was a less severe, for lack of a better term, check from God than the B clause.  In the A clause pride is shown in its negative state.  God never created something to be used in a negative, self serving manner.  He created pride so that there was a sense of majesty and an acknowledgement of some things/persons excellence in Him.  For example, my parents are proud of me not because they feel they can brag on what they did, or how they created me, but because of the grace they know God has bestowed upon them and myself for me to turn out ok.  When pride is perverted and used negatively it breeds arrogance and evil behavior.  A person dealing with pride can experience fractures in relationships, ruin in their finances and personal lives, and so much more.

But when a person in an elevated status continues to nurture pride it becomes haughtiness.  They esteem themselves highly, and we at times, can place these people on pedestals.   It is in this place of perceived superiority that a person can either stumble, stagger, and fall or they may be pushed by someone that has felt the slight of their hand. 

In this scripture God is warning us of the dangers of having a pride that says “look what I did” verses giving him honor and praise for having the grace to do the things you do, know the things you know, and have the things you have.  We must watch that perverse version of pride.  At the first sight of it, pluck it up from the root and sweep the seeds of it away.  For if left uncheck as you continue to move to higher levels, your pride will grow and produce haughtiness.  That haughtiness will inevitably lead you to a fall.  So I guess in reality the road of Pride does lead to the city of a Fall, but you have the opportunity to check yourself at the exits of Destruction an Haughtiness…The choice, as always, is yours.

Divine

Can you see me now???

"But the two angels reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door.  Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside."  Gen 19:10-11 NLT

(The following are the things I heard as they came out.  I don't know if there is order to it or not, but I'm sharing it as is)

      I was speaking to a great sister friend the other day and I told her “you know sometimes I feel invisible.”  Now most times we would have laughed about that, but that day the conversation shifted to a serious manner.  The one thing that stuck with me were the words “maybe those people aren’t suppose to see you.”  That made sense…kinda.  Well this morning I got up and read my bible and the passage I read is one I’ve read many times over, but I’ve never noticed the things that were pointed out today.  

          This is the story of Lot who chose where he wanted his family to live.  He ended up in Sodom and Gomorrah, which is another illustration of how making choices based on how things look can place you in a world of trouble.  So Lot and his family are in a city that God has come down to judge and sentence, as well as execute said sentence.  (Ha!  He’s judge, jury, and executioner if need be)  Anywhoo, that evening two angels walked into the city gates and Lot was there with welcoming, protective, arms.  He urged the “men” to come in, rest at his home, and wait for daylight.  He knew the men of the town were perverse.  The “men” finally came in, had dinner, relaxed, and then the mob decided to swing by and demand that the “men” be given to them.  They yelled and screamed and threatened Lot, so much so that he even offers his two daughters to the mob in place of the men.  Now that’s a MAJOR sacrifice.  (I can only imagine their mother’s face after that statement was made O_o)  Finally the two “men” pulled Lot back into the house, sealed the door, and blinded the men.  It was not until their vision had been taken away that the mob gave up!
So a couple of things that stuck out to me about this story.  Lot lived in this town for YEARS and the bible never speaks of anyone in his family being attacked or harmed.  It was like the perverse men running around outside of the home during this chapter had never seen the family.  The town’s people knew they were there, but they never came to any harm.  Have you ever seen those news stories where a person loses it and kills someone and themselves and during an interview with the neighbor you hear the words “he/she seemed like a really nice person”.  Or “I never would have suspected XYZ from them, they were so quiet”.  They knew their neighbor was there and probably waved while walking into their house, but because there was no relationship there they were unable to see the deeper issues in their lives. When will we as Christians stop focusing on the exterior and really take time to build relationships with people.  That bridge you build may be the only one that person has seen that will lead them to Christ…but I digress.

      The second thing that gets me is the mob see’s the “men” pull Lot back into the house and seal the door shut.  Now most sane people would hit the door a couple of times and leave it along because they couldn’t get in.  The passage states that it was only after they were blinded, after their vision was hindered, that they gave up.  Three more things that stood out to me:
A)     The men in the mob never came after Lot of his family until the angels arrived.  There was something about those angels that drew out the worst in these men.  It’s almost like they knew the destruction of their city was at hand.  Who/What brings the worst out of you?  You may want to re-evaluate why you have these people/things around if they abet in behaviors that are not positive or edifying.
B)      As Christians we know that we walk by faith, which is us trusting in the ability of God’s sight.  We do not walk in what we see because our vision of a situation is not always the best.  When we choose to walk by what we see, and our vision is taken it is very easy to give up.  However if I’ve been walking according to what God has placed in me (my faith), I can continue to move forward even when things don’t look the way I think they should.
C)      Have you ever noticed that there are some people that walk around you and never say a word?  It’s almost like they don't see you.  Blindness is another form of protection.  I have said from time to time that I feel invisible.  And for a long time I walked around as the invisible person, until one day someone noticed me.  Luckily I was doing what I suppose to be doing, but I was in utter shock.  I never thought in a million years that this person noticed me as I quietly did what I was asked and moved on.

     Which brings me back to my conversation with my sister friend.  “Maybe they aren’t supposed to see you” stuck with me, and after reading this passage I know why.  The people that will edify you, push you to become a better you, and help hold you up in moments of weakness will see you.  And they will only see you at the appointed time.  Never get upset if a person acts as if they are blind to your presence.  That specific type of blindness may be the most precious gift from God! Lot and his family were protected before and after the angels arrived.  They were set apart, and that made is so easy for the angels to distinguish between them and the mob.

      I thank God for those with the sight to see me as I am, and praise him for those that are blinded.  The people that need to see you, will see you (without you drawing attention to yourself), and those that do not will remain blinded until the appropriate time!