“The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.” — Isaiah 2:11
I am not God and I am not a god.
I was reading an article in Psychology Today recently, and I’m not sure why because it’s certainly not a part of my normal routine. But it was entitled “Self-Deification.” We don’t use these words in everyday conversation, but it simply means that we see ourselves as or are in the process of making ourselves a god. Here is the opening paragraph:
“Self-deification is fun, liberating and easy. You don’t have to be smart to do it. In fact, it’s easier if you’re not smart. It’s fun because it makes you feel omniscient. It’s liberating because it gives you an excuse for ignoring all the complications of life. It’s easy because there are only three steps to self-deification and none of them require any thinking or learning.”
The author goes through the three easy steps, basically saying to choose a new revelation of ourselves or some universal truth. Then make ourselves one with that new revelation. Finally, now that you not only have that new revelation but essentially are that revelation, trust your gut with all things because you will never be wrong again!
This was a gut punch to me. It reminded me of the conversation between the serpent and the first couple, Adam and Eve. But also, don’t we battle with this same mentality every day?
We readily admit that we aren’t God, but deep inside, maybe unconsciously, we want to be our own god. We want to be in control. We want to determine what our future will be like without even knowing how long our future may be. We want life to go according to our plans because we are wise and know what is best for us.
And as our own god, when our circumstances aren’t working out, we may even bow down to who we know is the Supreme God, asking Him to do our bidding. We want God to serve us rather than us serving Him. Instead of worshipping Him, we may treat God as an idol that we request sunshine from when we’ve had too much rain. God is more of a commodity and we are consumer shoppers.
When our plans (“We know the plans we have for us” is how we want the familiar verse to read) are not working out, rather than trust God, we may insist that He do what we want, thinking we know what is best. As a god, we love to be worshipped and told how good we look and how fabulous we are. We work 60 hours a week to accumulate stuff so that we are seen as powerful and above others. We may even look in the mirror and worship self.
But in the Bible, Peter confessed, “You are the Son of the living God.” Later, Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God.”
Until we can reach a point of making a similar confession, we will not know what it means to surrender and trust that not only is He God, but He is the only God. And as a loving and merciful God, He will test us in this life to see if we are truly trusting Him or are still wanting to hang on to our own deity.
I am not God and I am not a god. I am a sinful human being grateful for the grace of God, who continually forgives me for my pride. I will trust that whatever may take place today or tomorrow, I can know that He is not surprised or worried, and He will be with me. I am going to battle with self (god) every second of every day, and the more I submit to Him rather than me, the better my life will be. I will fail at times, but His grace will always be enough.
— David McGowin
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