Judges 7:1-18
So Gideon rises to the challenge and rallies 32,000 men to fight. He's, no doubt, thinking this is the army that defeats the Midianites. But God has other plans and decreases Gideon's forces to a mere 300 men. Think about that...32,000 down to 300. Yikes! But Gideon completely goes with God--no doubting, no questions.
So did you catch why the army was decreased? Because God knew that if Gideon and his army of 32,000 were victorious they wouldn't give the credit to God but would take it for themselves. "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest they boast over me, saying 'My own hand has saved me'" (Judges 7:2).
So have you ever "boasted over" God? I sure have. Definitely not a wise thing to do because it feeds and builds that prideful "all about me" syndrome. :( So how do we avoid a boasting mindset? And when we do make the mistake of boasting over God, what can we do to correct it? Tami W.
Though Jeremiah 9:23-24 clearly states what the Lord would have us do… I am sorry to say that unfortunately, I am not always obedient and have “boasted over” God. Keeping the Lord in the forefront of your mind works best in avoiding the boasting mindset, but for the times when we don’t – we need to quickly ask for forgiveness when we realize our shortcomings. It is those times when things are going great and I neglect to have a thankful heart and give credit where credit is due that gradually or sometimes suddenly a decline in effects takes place. It reminds me that it wasn’t me or all about me.
I am sorry to say that I have often "boasted" over God - even at times when was obvious that He was the one to help me in a situation! Jobs I've gotten, illnesses He has healed me through, relationships He has restored through prayer... oftentimes later on in my mind I will credit myself. I think what annonymous said about quickly asking for forgiveness when we realize the sin we have over boasting over God. Reminding ourselves to be thankful for what He has done and reviewing how He has saved us helps me to get my heart and mind back on track.
Something that has hit me recently is just how strongly God feels about pride. It pretty much tops His list of most hated sins. We, however, often tend to focus on more visible sins, especially those of a lifestyle or sexual nature. We tend to view pride as something that, while is not good, really isn’t all that bad. We tend to lump it into the “speeding on the freeway” category more so than with some of the more heinous crimes. So your question on how to avoid it is very timely.
I agree with Janet that when things go well – job promotion etc, we tend to think that it is all about us and what we did. Perhaps an anecdote is to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness. We just celebrated our Thanksgiving here north of the border, and yours is coming in a few weeks. When I stop to reflect on what God has done and what God has given I move (a little at least) further away from the all about me attitude.
It is so easy to want to take credit even inadvertenty. I like that once gideon completely trusted god he did whatever god asked. Impressive. And humility, it seems it is nearly impossible because saying we are. takes away from actually being humble. Confusing.
Something very interesting grabbed my attention today that ties in with recent conversations, especially yesterday's "fleecing"...In v.9 God again tells Gideon that He is delivering the Mideonites into his hand, and tells him that the time is now. Here's where things get interesting...in v.10 and 11 God provides Gideon with an option, just in case his faith hasn't fully matured to the point of complete trust and absolute fearlessness. God knows us intimately...when He calls you to service, He will equip you sufficiently for the task. I also see faith as a process...always growing and maturing...and God knows right where we're at and has patience to nurture us along. Hebrews 12:2 comes to mind here, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..." Same God, working in the same manner, Gideon's faith journey is scripted out for us here so we can know God more intimately and thus advance one more step on our own faith journey.
The awesomeness of God is again brought home to us through this passage, in that He knows in advance the outcome of every situation. Yes, although we may at times slip into the 'self realm', we are reminded through God's Word that our focus must at all times be to give God the glory by doing His will - not to please man (Eph 6 v 6).
I always remember I can do nothing without the help of the Lord the only times I can remember boasting on myself I was young in the Lord and did'nt know the word now I thank God that the Holy Spirit let me know right away
God has been very good to me. Ijust want to be thanful to Him. It is sometimes difficult to always honour Him in words and deed as we get caught up in things around us. My encouragement to all is that God is good all the time and all the time God is good. So let us just trust Him to help us to always honour Him in all we do and say.