Things have not been quite right recently, not that anything was glaring wrong, just many of the circumstances were questionable by the way they were going. So many times in fact that I began to wonder if much of what I was seeing, I was seeing from a view of pride, that my attitudes and opinions were self centered.

with that in mind, I decided to look into the hidden sin of pride. As with many of the studies I do, I did a lot of the work before actually beginning the study, compiling verses that would make the study easier to work through then to constantly having to look the verses up.

Having done that, I began the study and already have found a reason and cause to write a commentary. Trying out to find out what caused pride was not going to be a slam dunk. It was going to take some objective looking in the mirror and I am not a huge fan of reflection. One of the readings describing what pride was appears in 2 Chronicles, 32nd chapter. Talking about King Hezekiah’s pride, God had sent a miraculous sign but Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him.

Immediately I began to wonder how many times I had experienced a hard heart that prevented me to experience God’s kindness. Surely when we sit still long enough we can list many ways that God’s kindness comes into our lives. But how many times are we unresponsive to it?

The verse goes on to declare that because of Hezekiah’s unresponsiveness, the wrath of the Lord came on him. I can see that this is the opposite of receiving God’s kindness. So if our lives seem that God is ignoring us, perhaps we can trace it back to the hardness of our own hearts. It seems as though it is one symbiotic circle of acknowledging God’s works in life and His furthering that benevolence on us. One comes with the other, a hard heart and unresponsiveness to the work of God will cause a continuation of ambivalence to God’s works for our cause.

A broken heart is mended, a sick friend finds healing and a community recovers from a devastating storm are all examples of God’s kindness in this very real world we live in. There are examples both of greater and lesser intensity that define God’s kindness and our response to them all should be the same. Thankful and unrelenting praise for the Hand of God in our reality.

We need to acknowledge and surrender to His will in our hearts. Only in this way can He provide the promises He has made to His followers. A hard heart and a prideful attitude will work against us in the long run. Identifying those things that keep us from the study of God’s words and acting to rid our lives of them provides a good first step in softening our hearts to be responsive for the kindness He reigns on us……

IHN

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TPDoyle