I bet most people who think about the Bible will typically think of just God and Jesus, and perhaps the Holy Spirit. They may even solely think about some of the great Bible stories like Moses and the plagues against Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, David and Goliath, or Daniel in the Lion's Den. I think of those stories as well. But I also think about King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar was depicted in the Bible as being a vain person, and someone very haughty (high opinion of themselves). He exalted and deified himself, and at one point tried to make everyone worship a golden statue carved in his image. Multiple times he was shown who the true God was only for sometime later to revert back to his own self-centered ego trip. It wasn't long before God struck him down and he was transformed into a mindless beast.
I think about Nebuchadnezzar because in some ways I was a lot like him. No, I've never made anyone try to worship a golden statue in my likeness, but I did think pretty highly of myself; and like God I casted down judgement toward those whom I deemed "lowly". I thought highly of myself because I thought all the successes I had was done by my own hand. I gave God credit but never fully praised Him for it.
In the last few months God has been working on humbling me. He has broken me multiple times and casted me into the forge's fire to refine me. God has been correcting my spiritual vision so that I see others the way He sees them. This has helped me to be more compassionate and loving towards those of whom I might even strongly disagree with, but still love them.
I've become more compassionate towards the mentally ill (as I suffer from that illness as well), those imprisoned, those who are perhaps even breaking the law in order to provide for their family. It doesn't mean I agree with them, but it also means I am not judging them.
Nebuchadnezzar tried to set himself up as God, and in my haughtiness I was doing the same thing. Now I have decided to let God be God and I will be whom He wants me to be. See the difference?
The difference is I am surrendering complete control to God instead of trying to be the controller.
The story of Nebuchadnezzar is a parallel to all of us. If we have too much pride and think ourselves better than everyone else, eventually that pride comes with a fall. God establishes and gives, and He also takes away and knocks us down (if we need it). So stay humble, my friends, and remember:
No one is better than the other.
Until next time...
Good advice
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