Busted

Busted! I got busted - at church no less! When will I learn? Every time I think I have something really learned, or a truth really appropriated, I get busted.


All my life I've heard "Pride goes before a fall." Spiritual pride has always been a struggle for me, especially since I was raised in a very externals oriented church where we thought we had things down just the way God intended. There was nothing wrong about the practices and ordinances of our church, but in me, it allowed for a lot of spiritual pride in thinking we had things figured out just a little bit better than everyone else.

Well, my friend and I were talking the other day about how much alike we are. We like a lot of the same things, we think alike, and we've decided that we must be sisters, and are just now figuring that out! We've only been good friends for about a year and a half, but never have I felt so bonded so quickly to a friend who started out as a casual acquaintance. It was when she lost her husband that I reached out to her, and the rest is history.

Recently she mentioned that she was a little rebellious - not in a horrible way, just not a goody-two-shoes type of person. I was always a "good girl" having my rebellious spirit spanked out of me at an early age. Well, not all that early! So I told her that was probably one way we were a little different. BIG MISTAKE!

You all know the verses, Prov. 8:13, 11:2, 16:18, 29:23. After all, PRIDE -that was Satan's sin - the worst of all.

Sunday, I was running just a little late to church, but opted to try for a parking space in the lot. After a slow drive through the aisles and not finding anything, I looked at my watch to see if there was time to ride the shuttle. Nope. Too late.

Then I spotted a pretty good 1/2 space with slash marks right across from the kiosk, out of everybody's way, and whipped in there, unbuckled my seat belt, slammed the door, and as I turned back to lock the car with the remote, I saw it:

Big sign: Park only in marked spaces.

Now what do I do? I'm not rebellious, right? I like to keep the rules, right?
I turned around and kept walking. Hoped no one would see me getting into my car after church.

The message was so good I didn't really think about it much during the service, but afterward, on my way out, I remembered.

The closer I got to my car the more worried I became when I saw three strong, young, BIG guys standing right by my front fender underneath the sign.

I threw up my hands, picked up my pace, and called out to them, "I'm busted! I know it! I shouldn't have done it!"

"What are you talking about?" they answered in unison, as I pointed out the sign to them.

"Oh, we weren't paying any attention to that! We were just talking!" I don't think they even knew it was there.

Again I was reminded that God is not finished with me yet. He's in the business of conforming me to the image of His Son, and it's hard. He's got a big job on His hands. It seems as if whenever I think I have something to be proud about, God taps me on the shoulder, and reminds me that He is still working on me. My trust is that someday I shall be like Him for I shall see Him face to face. Until then I need to cooperate with Him when He gives me those taps. To think that He cares and does that, makes me very humble!