Almost Fell

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.  For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

(Psalm 73:2-3, NKJV).

About a year ago, I fell down and hurt my ankle and this led to being indisposed for a few months.  Prior to the fall, I had been running late for a travel that I was taking and in an effort to redeem the time, I ran only to fall down.  My first reaction was that it was not a serious injury and with some first aid, I continued with my journey.  I had miscalculated the extent of the injury as I endured excruciating pain in the days that followed.  Looking back, I acknowledge that I had not anticipated a fall and even after the fall, I belittled what had happened.  One lesson I learnt through this situation, was that while falling down was bad enough, the healing only started only when I chose to admit that I was in pain and injured.  This is a physical fall, but the lesson applies even to other areas including spiritual falls.

 Coming across our reference verse, it gave a picture of the physical fall only this time, it is a matter of one’s heart posture.  The slipping away is subtle and if not watched, will lead to a fall.  Just as a physical fall is not planned or anticipated, our spiritual journey also has pitfalls which require that we are continually alert.  The psalmist says that the reason for his near fall was that he was envious of the boastful who had great prosperity despite being wicked.  It is a natural human emotion to admire others especially when we acknowledge that they might have what we would want for ourselves. Admiration is not the same as envy, the psalmist uses the word envy, he was envious of those who were prosperous and boastful.  Beloved, envy suggests being bitter and resentful of others, so it is not just admiration, envy carries a sense of disdain towards another person.  Again, it is an element of the heart.  From an individual level, we might convince ourselves that envy hidden in the heart is harmless, after all, others do not know about it. The bible is not silent about envy but admonishes us against it in various verses, referring to it as an act of the flesh and warning us that it could lead one to missing the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).  This seemingly harmless emotion is not so innocent after all.  God takes it seriously and calls His people out of such heart conditions.  Apostle Peter writes and says that we are to rid ourselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind (1 Peter 2:1).  We are not to entertain these emotions in our hearts for in doing so, we are pulling away from God, we are slipping away. Apostle James highlights that habouring bitter envy and selfish ambitions in our hearts is denying the truth, it is embracing evil wisdom (James 3:14-16).  Brethren we are to be known by our love for Christ and for one another, but these emotions do not allow us to love.  Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians reminded us all, that love is patient and kind, it does not envy or boast (1 Corinthians 13:4).  This hits home, we cannot say that we are living in love when we are also carrying these other emotions in our hearts, they will not co-exist.

 As I have meditated on this message, I have been reminded of Apostle Paul’s words, oh wretched man that I am, who will rescue me (Romans 7:24).  The whole psalm, brings the reality of the heart so clearly that it is painful, but I found a point of healing and revelation when I sought the Lord.  The psalmist says that he went to the sanctuary of God and in that moment he understood matters (Psalm 73:17).  Beloved, we will stay afloat only when we keep our eyes on God who has the right yardstick of behaviour.  By ourselves, we will fall but when we look up to Him, He rescues us from the slippery path that we might be on.

 Thoughts:

 What is your reflection of this blog?

 Where have you almost fallen?

 How has God in His mercies rescued you?