Worthless Trophies

Worthless Trophies

I saw a shelf high on the wall. It had a wooden piece secured to the wall and another piece of wood that supported the shelving, but something wasn’t right about the situation. I understood it was meant to be a trophy shelf to display what the person held dear. Only I had the distinct feeling that what people thought deserved a trophy disgusted the Lord.

As my eyes focused on the shelving, I saw to my dismay that a series of mousetraps, not a wood frame, supported the shelf. The mouse traps were secured to the wall and the wire arm that snapped to kill the mouse, supported the shelf, and was fully armed, ready to strike. The whole contraption was a trap.

One of Satan’s oldest weapons—pride was the tension in the trap, ready to strike.

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God’s response. “Do not put weight in or rely on man-made things on what the world would put on display as worthy of praise. What deceived man would put on a trophy shelf is a painful trap armed by pride. We should not let worldly accomplishments have a place in our hearts. This location should only hold what I call holy, good, righteous, and true. Often what people might choose to hide or see as a weakness I would use to glorify myself and put it on display. Whereas human strength, intelligence, and fortitude are not to be exalted. Failure to submit these traits to the Lord will bring only pain and shame. The enemy of your soul will use these traits to insight pride in one’s own accomplishments. Instead of giving praise to Me. Do not seek to line shelves of trophy cases with your accomplishments. Seek to be found weak in human’s eyes to exalt Me.”

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“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”    Harry S Truman.

Do what your God-given assignment is and care less about human acknowledgement, or praise. Your obedience sets up others for the victory God wants for them. There is no competition in the Kingdom of God, only the victory in the Lord and glory for our Savior.

When I try to rack up trophies, please remind me time is better spent on Kingdom endeavors, and often that is building someone else up sometimes to do the very thing our heart desires.

Don’t get stuck in the question. Why not me?

Don’t succumb to the desire to load your shelf with worthless trophies.

Our pride makes this hard for us to do. We might find ourselves saying why not me? Perhaps it’s a learning experience for us as He prepares it to be our turn next. Or perhaps it is enough that we play a part in His master plan without receiving an ounce of human credit. I don’t know. In his Word it says that …

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:3-7, ESV)

Prayer for you and me: Lord, help me lay down my desire for human praise. I need help. Help me see the heavenly rewards I will receive by my obedience are far greater than any earthly rewards I might receive. Thank You, Jesus, for the mind-shift. In Jesus’ name. Amen.