If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! [Psalm 91.9-13]
Pride is an ugly thing. However, as ugly as it is, for the most part, it is invisible.
And, because pride is mostly invisible, we, as mere humans may recognize it in others, but seldom see it in ourselves.
This passage of scripture is very clear that those who actually make the effort to trust in God as their complete and total refuge - the One they turn to for every thing - will not be conquered by evil, will not even have to deal with plagues, will be protected by angels from God, and won't even stub their toes. What's more they will walk among deadly situations without as much as a scratch.
So, if I make God my refuge, I qualify for these benefits.
If these benefits are not evident in my life, it is scriptural to conclude that I have NOT made God my refuge.
But here is where pride rears its deceiving and ugly head! Here is where well-meaning people disagree and say, "Yeah, but God allows trials and tests..." as if a plague coming on our house might be God's way of "polishing His silver" instead of what the Bible says it is (that it is the result of not making God our refuge).
There is simply not enough scriptural support of the "trial" theology to satisfy me compared to the countless scriptures like the one noted above that clearly defines God's rewarding character toward those who seek Him.
I was recently confronted on this very topic with the story of Job in the Bible. It was argued that God tested Job. It was argued that God, in His conversation with Satan, hand-picked "righteous" Job for a test.
Has it ever occurred to us that what we witness in the first part of the story of Job is an exchange between God and Satan that may or may not ever be understood at the human level? But even so, as the story unfolded, Job indeed had a very self-righteous religious pride hidden down deep that neither he, nor Satan could see. Only God knew that pride was there. And even though God taunted Satan with Job's apparent righteousness, God knew Job had exposed himself to the trial before him by that unrecognized and un-repented of pride. And, sure enough, that pride very quickly surfaced and showed its ugly head when the bad stuff began. All the while, stupid Satan thought he had tricked God into turning against a righteous man.
The thing is, God's promises will not be found untrue. God will not be made a liar concerning His promises. The scripture above will not be made invalid! Job had made his own self-righteousness his refuge instead of God and no one but God could actually see it. Imagine Satan's disappointment when Job starting spewing out all kinds of self-righteous trash thus validating all the bad stuff Satan unleashed on him!
But in the end, Job repented. And that repentance brought restoration. And that restoration was good. It was good in the Bible definition of good. It was blessing along the lines of the blessing for obedience found in Deuteronomy 28. It was blessing in contrast to the curses for disobedience found in Deuteronomy 28.
All the silly bantering between Job and his friends could have been avoided if Job had simply repented immediately. As soon as Job repented, he was restored.
Why then would we argue our innocence when we could simply repent and be restored? Why would we take a few difficult-to-understand scriptures (that, by the way stand in contrast to the overwhelming majority of the Bible's definitions of God's good blessing on His obedient ones) and argue our innocence as if our difficulties were a trial and not deserved?
For the record, Job's trials weren't the result of standing for righteousness (like Jesus said we would face). Job's trials revealed his pride. Job, in arrogance and pride, defended his righteousness. It was not until Job confessed his error that his trials ended. In other words, When Job got right with God, the bad stuff stopped!
Okay, so, what about Grace? What about New Testament Grace? Jesus Christ. The Cross? The empty tomb? Salvation?
Great questions!
Grace, according to the Bible comes by faith. To be exact, without faith, there can be no grace. Jesus' message was continually challenging His followers to believe. Why? Because they would never experience grace without faith. The author of Hebrews aptly stated that it is impossible to please God without faith. Consequently, whatever is not of faith then, is sin. If it is not of faith, then grace does not apply. If grace does not apply, then the Law remains in force as do the consequent curses for disobedience.
Bad things are the tell-tale evidence of disobedience. Period. There are no "bad things" in heaven - never have been, never will be. Jesus told us to declare God's will on earth "as it is in heaven" because God's will for us is GOOD! The only thing holding back "God's good" is our sin - our lack of faith included.
Dear reader, if you want to continue to argue that you are righteous and that bad things are happening to you because God is testing you, I probably cannot change your mind. I am sure you have plenty of good reasons to believe you are sinless. Job had plenty of good reasons too. But just remember, that Job was found out to be proud and arrogant. And he repented. Please don't read his story and overlook that most important part!
If you make the LORD [not yourself or your own righteousness] your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter [not yourself or your own righteousness], no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.
Father, help us to get pride completely out of our lives!
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