Thank You, Lord, For The Falls

What would we do without the falls in life? How would we know to look up to our Lord and Savior without being laid out once in a while? Indeed, when things are going well I look up much less than I ought and when things go poorly I am often in earnest prayer. The first part comes naturally to fallen folks, some even look down so much they claim that God does not exist. The latter comes from the prompting of God's own Spirit as He pokes us often, "Look up, I'm here!" Without God and His dear Holy Spirit, we would fall and never look up.

King Nebuchadnezzar had some tough dreams, two in particular. We know the story of the first and take warning from the parable of the second. Daniel, recognized as having the Spirit of the Most High God in him even by this pagan king, told Nebuchadnezzar of the greatness of his kingdom, a cause for a pause to give God the glory, right? Unfortunately, Nebu chose the way of pride first, just as you or I would in the same place.

"Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.” ​All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:27-30)

After telling the good parts of the dream, Daniel tried to warn King Nebuchadnezzar to repent. As the story goes, he didn't, and the hard fall came. We cannot fail to cringe when we see the pride in the king's words. A year of time to repent and follow the advice of Daniel did no good. Without Christ in our lives, we would fall just as hard and in quite the same manner. However, after the seven years went by, the king was restored and he immediately looked up in praise and gratitude to God. Without that fall, King Nebuchadnezzar may well have been lost forever. So, yes we do very much thank God for the falls in this life. Our God is well able to humble the proud, and from that fallen position we find it more immediate, more necessary, and our heart's fervent desire to look up to Him, our Lord and Savior, forever and ever, amen!

Bucky