"After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser." ~ Benjamin Franklin


When I think about some of the issues I've endured over the years, it's amazing to me that I could think I was humble and wise, but then get to the other side and realize I was just the opposite. I hesitate to continue typing simply because I don't know what to say about myself that would elicit an understanding of where I'm coming from at this very moment.What does it say about me to have to endure a cycle of the same trials over and over again, but that:
  1. God was testing and trying me;

  2. I failed the tests and trials;

  3. I was neither humble nor wise enough to see the err of my ways, so;

  4. God's grace continued to test and try me until I GOT it.


And with #4, the fact that my mind generated that thought makes me question whether or not I DID get it! Who am I to say that I got it if God is the one Who is doing the testing and trying? I don't know!

What I DO know is this: I can't let my guard down and totally lose sight of how difficult the past few months have been. I need to catalog that sense of humility and the wisdom it cultivated. Why? Because I have the sneaking suspicion that things are about to explode around me in a positive way. And if I'm not careful, I'll let it go to my head, thus mentally and spiritually finding myself in a lower place than I ever could have been when my mere outward circumstances were the only challenge.

I've found that my biggest tests of humility and wisdom were not in daunting times, but when everything was going well for me. Everything is on its way to going well for me again. This time, I don't want to fail the TRUE test of remaining humble, even in prosperity.