Avoiding the Stumbles in Life

     One activity I have taken up since retiring to Georgia is trail running. I have been road running for several years, but trail running is different. I have to stay focused while running the trails because of tree roots and rocks. I have paid the price for not staying focused by incurring some injuries from tripping and falling. At one point, Melodee and I had to ask the question whether this was a worthwhile activity. That question is yet to be answered, but I like the challenge of doing a different type of running.

     During our latest small group gathering we discussed the topic of humility and pride, as highlighted in the first section of James 4. The pivotal statement of this section is, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (verse 6b). Essentially, we learned that pride is taking credit for what God has done in our lives and humility is giving God credit for what He has done in our lives. Whatever we have, whatever we have accomplished, we should give God the glory. In return, God gives us grace.

     This week I went out to do my weekly trail run. During the last portion of the run, I started thinking about what we talked about concerning pride and humility. I applied this discussion to my run and acknowledged God’s grace in giving me the health and strength to be able to run. Ironically, as the word, pride, entered my thoughts, I tripped on a root. Fortunately, it did not result in a fall, but it got my attention. I immediately responded in two ways from that trip; (1) I got focused again on my running and watched out for those rocks and roots. (2) I recognized God’s hand in the trip and thanked Him for reinforcing the lesson about pride.

     Later on, after the run, I had a chance to reflect on what happened. I saw the “trip” incident as a metaphor for what can and does happen when we lift ourselves up with pride. The verse above says God opposes our pride and I believe that one ‘opposition’ strategy God utilizes is allowing for us to stumble. By definition, when we are trusting ourselves, we are not “holding onto God’s hand” and the result is obvious.  Sometimes the stumble is only a trip; other times the stumble causes us to get hurt. God allows us to stumble to get our attention, to humble us, and to look to Him. I assure you, I enjoy running a lot more when I don’t trip and really enjoy it when I don’t fall. It is so disruptive to what I am doing. Our pride can be disruptive also, because it gets in the way of what God wants to do in our lives. I hope you don’t trip and fall like I have, both physically and metaphorically.  We must humble ourselves daily and stay focused on Him.

- David P. Staggers                                                                                                4/28/21