"Strait"

Old Strait moves with an easy gait,

And never cared to buck,

Except one time I cast my twine,

And hopin’ for good luck,

To catch a calf, and man, they’d laugh,

If I didn’t do it quick,

Spurred him on, we’d get along,

That loop on him to stick.

But old Strait humped and crow-hop jumped,

And I thought here we go,

I held on tight but thought I might,

Hit that hard ground so.

But good for me, he stopped you see,

And ran on to the calf,

Got him caught, relieved I thought,

Thank God, no photograph.

Sometimes I think, that God will wink,

When we let our pride,

Make us think that we can’t sink,

Into a buckin’ ride.

Don’t want to lapse, avoid the traps,

That satan sets for us,

Ride on out with Spirit’s clout,

It’s best in Him to trust.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble…” (1 Peter 5:5, NLT)

Pride is something God will not indulge. He resists it, and always. Why? Because it’s human pride and arrogance that goes before a fall. It’s ultimately idolatry, thinking that we’d make a better god than God. In a sense, when God resists our pride it is another form of grace. If He didn’t resist our pride in order to help us come to our senses, He would just write us off and let us go. But He doesn’t do that. He faithfully opposes our pride so that we, over time, see the nonsense of egotism and humbly embrace His lordship of our lives. It’s good to know God loves us enough to resist our pride.

Lord, help us humble ourselves and receive Your grace, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Doug Monson, used by permission. Thanks, Doug, and God bless you.