Exodus 10:3
And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

Pride is our enemy, but it is something that we don’t always recognize in ourselves.  It will sometimes take control without us even realizing that it has taken the reins.  And when Pharaoh exalts himself to this high place, when he refuses to obey, he really is doing battle against God, thinking he can triumph, that he can have control and power and get his way.  But in the end, he will lose.  Ultimately this kind of attitude gets us into trouble.  Eventually, an unrepentant heart receives its due, and continual defiance of God draws His wrath.

But how often do we try to butt heads with God?  In what ways have we gone head-to-head against Him trying to get our way?  Often we have no excuse to act this way.  We can’t claim ignorance because we have, like Pharaoh, heard the word of God and known what He wanted us to do.  We can’t deny God Himself because He has shown Himself very apparently to be real and working among us.  We can’t blame someone else, because we make our own choices.  We are the kings of our kingdoms and have tried to retain control of them for ourselves.

So what will we do when we’ve come to recognize this ugly pride within ourselves?  Will we humble ourselves before the Lord?  Will we surrender to His will and His plan and allow Him to accomplish His purpose in and through us?  Will we repent of our pride and seek to restore that broken relationship with God?  Or will we stubbornly insist on getting our way, continually rejecting God until He is forced to bring His judgment upon us?

Humbling ourselves is a decision we have to make.  Just as we can choose to defy God, we can choose to submit to Him.  Just as we can choose to do battle, we can choose to surrender.  So if we’ve found an area of pride in our lives, let’s not continue to resist the Spirit of God.  Let’s not stubbornly try to get our way apart from what He wants.  Let’s not allow our hearts to be hardened, but revived by obedience.  Let’s not resist over and over like Pharaoh did and face the same kind of end as him, but find the peace and rest and goodness that comes into our lives through a humble heart.