A Gentle Whisper -- Listening for the Voice of God Johnny Almond 3 years ago

Humpty Dumpty

I will cut you down to size among the nations, Edom; you will be small and despised. You are proud because you live in a rock fortress, making your home in the mountains.“ Who can ever reach us way up here?” you ask boastfully. Don’t fool yourselves! Though you soar high as eagles and build your nest among stars, I will bring you crashing down. I, the LORD, have spoken!  OBADIAH 1:2-4 NLT

Sitting on a wall you have constructed by your own wisdom and ability?
Feeling secure in accomplishments, sure nothing can touch you now?
Condescendingly perched in your nest, looking down on the world below?
King of a mountain you so skillfully climbed, despising lower classes?
Thinking you have it made? Better think again!
  Arrogance makes you strut—reality can bring you to your knees.
  Ego makes you brag—embarrassment can cut you down to size.

There is no security without God.
Everything else changes—I remain the same through the years.
I alone in the entire universe am absolutely trustworthy.
Mountains do not give you security—the Mountain-Maker does.

The proud are My enemies—they are against Me, so I am against them.
The higher you climb, the greater your crash.
There is a wrecking ball inside every egotistically constructed life.
Mother Goose got it right in her nursery rhyme for children:
  Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
  All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
  Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
If a nation, business, church, family, or individual collapses from pride—
  political, military, economic, religious, and psychological remedies fail.
The only prescription for health is to repent and return to God.

John Bunyan said it well in his poem
“The Shepherd Boy Sings in the Valley of Humiliation”:
  He that is down, needs fear no fall; he that is low, no pride.
  He that is humble ever shall have God to be his guide.

The humble are My favorites—they are on My side, so I am on theirs.
Make Me your Mighty Fortress—I will keep you from having a great fall.

Johnny

Johnny R. Almond earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey and a Diploma in Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge. After pastoring churches for a decade, he served the Air Force as a military chaplain in worldwide assignments. After retiring from the military in 2000, he began serving as pastor in Virginia. He currently serves as pastor of Hull's Memorial Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He and his wife, Beverly, have four sons, three grandsons, and three granddaughters.