Dear Journal,
When
I first read that “God opposes the proud” or that “pride comes before a fall,”
I thought that this opposition must be painful indeed. I sought to avoid this
secondary fall at all costs. However, this week I have come to realize that in
the midst of my pride, the most gracious thing God could do is to oppose my
self-centered plans. Fearfully and
Wonderfully Made points to the muscular system to illustrate this point.
Dr.
Brand once had a patient whose neck muscles twitched with such violence that
“every few seconds his chin smashed into his right shoulder” (Brand Yancey, p. 189). The man’s story was a sad one, but Dr. Brand’s key point
focused more on the dysfunction of a muscle. You see, the muscle itself does not cause the impairment, but the nerves that cause it to act
independently from the body. The parallel drawn between the
autonomous actions of a muscle in a physical body and the self-serving actions
of a member of Christ’s body, are certainly striking. Yancey and Brand
skillfully paint this picture in the book:
