Breaking our Pride 3

The following is from a sermon by Ron Dunn called “Ministry of Failure!”

He said “God uses failure to empty us of pride.” “God is bringing you to a place where you have no alternative than to trust Him.” “I want to tell you something that I believe. I believe a man will never trust God until he has to. You see, there is something about man that is basically self-sufficient. He likes to think he can handle it himself. And God is forced to bring us into circumstances and situations where we have to confess, “I cannot handle it.”

The old theologians used to have a phrase that I think is a tremendous one… They called it “being shut up to faith.” That’s where God hems us in a corner where the only way out is up. And I said, and I really believe this with all my heart that I’ll never trust God until I have to. You see, as long as I have another trick or two up my sleeve I’m going to use it. As long as I’ve got a back door, as long as I have a fire escape…as long as I have some other plan, some other gimmick, I’m going to use that. And if God is going to bring me to the place where He wants me to be…and that is absolutely dependent upon Him…He must first of all destroy my faith in myself.

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