February 3, 2025 Devo

Some years ago in Florida, the Sheriff’s department was called to a nightclub because a man was being disruptive. He was threatening other patrons and causing quite a spectacle. Deputies arrived, talked with the man, and asked him to come outside with them. He had obviously had too much to drink and became belligerent with the officers. When deputies took him by the arm, he elbowed one of them, threw up his arms, and declared, “I’m the strongest man in the world!” That’s when the other deputy sprayed him with pepper spray. The man was last seen being led to the police car crying like a baby.
We often think we’re more than we really are, don’t we? And most of us don’t need alcohol to make us think so. We often believe we’re smarter than we are, stronger than we are, and more invulnerable than we are. That’s why many people try to do life on their own. Which is also why so many of us end up like the man being led to the police car. Life slaps us in the face and reminds us we’re not all that we think we are.
Our temptation to follow our pride rather than God goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Do you remember the temptation that led Adam and Eve astray? It wasn’t just eating the fruit. It was what the Enemy told them that the fruit would do for them. “You will be LIKE GOD…” So they traded a paradise where they had everything they needed so long as they walked in obedience to God for a path that they got to choose for themselves. And like all of us who follow our pride, it was a path that led to death and destruction.
Our passage today reminds us that pride still calls us to that path of choosing our own way. The Enemy tries to convince us there is no God. Or if our minds won’t let us go that far, he tries to convince us that we really don’t need that much of God. But we do.
The truth is we were CREATED to need God. Our lives only work successfully when we’re walking in sync with our Father and being guided by His Hand. Ironically, humility, not pride is the key to success. When we try to rule our own lives and live them the way WE want to, we simply make a mess of things. Sometimes, like our friend in Florida, we have to be pepper sprayed back into reality.
So humble your heart today. Surrender yourself to the direction and leadership of the Holy Spirit. Humbling yourself on the front end is a whole lot less painful than being humbled later on. Trust your pride, and you may end up crying pepper spray tears. That’s God’s Word for you today.