Seek The Lord with humility

 ...he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered. 

(2 Chronicles 31:21 NIV)

who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 

(2 Chronicles 30:19, 20 NIV)

A repeating phrase that I have been seeing is that seeking God with all your heart will pretty much solve all your problems.  However, there is always a warning closely following that many will become proud of their accomplishments or recognition which will bring them wrath or bondage and eventually death.  In other words, although the answer is simple (seek God with all your heart) the risk of having a prideful heart is extremely high.  When there is a high risk of anything potentially dangerous, it's wise to make preparations that will help you avoid the risk.  In this case that is understanding humility.  Each time a king was lifted in pride the only adequate defense that helped him was the act of humbling himself.  

"But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah."

 (II Chronicles 32:25, 26 NKJV)

This is just one example of many throughout the Old Testament where a king became proud of his accomplishments and started forgetting that all of it was a gift from God.  

The best way to be prepared to fight pride is to know and practice humility.  Humility as defined by the dictionary:

1.  to lower in condition, importance, or dignity; abase. 

2.  to destroy the independence, power, or will of. 

3. to make meek: to humble one's heart.

Perhaps you had a different view of what it meant to humble your heart?  I certainly did.  To destroy my independence?  To destroy my will of something?  That's incredibly ...humiliating, debasing, and the only weapon that will help you, ironically, prosper and fight against your pride.  

Sometimes the thoughts I hear in my head sound a lot like the King of Assyria who threatened king Hezekiah:

“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: ‘In what do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem (my Jerusalem being in the Word and in consistent feelingless prayer)? Does not Hezekiah (my faith) persuade you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst (by being deprived of success in a career and/or reputation), saying, “The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on it”? Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hand (look at all those other miserable people who missed out on life)? Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah (my hope and faith in God) deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ” (II Chronicles 32:10-15 NKJV)

And then...

"Then the LORD sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there."

(II Chronicles 32:21 NKJV)

So there was that.

Pride is loud and really obnoxious and persuading at lying, but only one God can actually turn your dire circumstances around regardless of how small your odds are.  Again, this comes down to believing that God is indeed God, and if so nothing loud or even persuasive can withstand Him.  I have tons of issues and problems in my life that I hear loudly all the time, telling me they'll crush me, telling me that God cannot save me, but I have to humble my heart, let go of my will and my independence to do anything and recognize that God is the only one who can save me.  I might look pathetic in the eyes of my oppressors or even my own eyes, but I think it's times like these that pride is most puffed up, and sharp humility is my only hope.  

It's entirely about seeking God with all my heart, and daily practicing humility as reinforcers for when things get difficult.  Be prepared to humble yourself if you expect to see the hand of God work in your life.

J