Isaiah 10:5, 6a, 12 (ESV)

Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger;

the staff in their hands is my fury!

Against a godless nation I send him,

and against the people of my wrath I command him,

When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.

Assyria thought they were accomplishing great things. They were conquering nations. Their gods appeared to be greater than the gods of Jerusalem and Samaria. What they failed to understand was that the God of Jerusalem had called them, and was enabling them to gain the victories they had. They were simply a pawn in his hands. God was using them to judge his people. Assyria gained no victory that the God of Jerusalem had not allowed them to have. When God was done, a remnant of Israel would be preserved, but Assyria would be destroyed.

How many arrogant politicians have believed that they achieved their position and power by their own might, right, or connections? They fail to understand that God may have put them there to help a country, or judge a country, but they are there by the hand of God. They will answer to him for how they lead. How many arrogant preachers and church leaders have made the same mistake? They assume that their church growth, effective leadership, or positive impact on lives is the result of their greatness as a leader, the quality of the leadership plan, or their excellent training that prepared them for effective ministry. In politics, power and connections certainly play a part. In ministry, training, gifting, and good planning are all valuable. But the leader must never forget that ultimately, they have been placed in leadership by the sovereign hand of God. They may be a tool of judgement or blessing in God’s hands, but they are a tool in God’s hands.

It is easy to bash leaders. What about the rest of us? We do the same thing. How often do we go through life failing to recognize that our blessings are from God, our opportunities are from God, and our accomplishments are from God? The believer walks in the humility of recognizing that all we have is a gift from our Heavenly Father. We can choose to respond in two ways. We can look to ourselves, or we can look to God. Do we have a joyful accomplishment? Are we proud of our self and our accomplishment, or grateful for God’s blessing? Do we have a failure or disaster in life? Do we sit in abject misery looking for someone to blame, or do we cast ourselves at the feet of Jesus and ask for counsel and comfort? Whether in good or in bad, blessing or disaster, God is God.


We can choose arrogant self-reliance. It is an illusion, but we can choose to believe it. We can elect to live in our own self-centered delusions of grandeur and greatness. We can live as though everything depended on us. Ultimately, we will answer to God for how we have lived, but like the Assyrians, we can choose to ignore that truth. Or, we can choose humble reliance. Whether God is discipling or blessing, we can recognize our dependence on him, and trust him. He is faithfully working his purpose in our lives. How will you respond? How will I respond?