What Blessing In Your Life Do You Need To Give God Credit For?

I was a couple days postpartum, and my mom and I were hanging out at home together, admiring my shiny new daughter. She was perfect: her sweet little cheeks, precious nose, itty-bitty fingers and toes. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I was so delighted with this little person.

My mom was equally enthralled, and told me how beautiful she was. I beamed back at her and declared, “I made her!!”

“You and God,” she quietly replied.

(For the record, my mother is extraordinarily wonderful, the best I could ever ask for. She’s forever giving of her time and resources to support me and be there for me, and I love spending time with her.)

A little deflated, I said nothing in return. In the moment, I was miffed that she would feel a need to set me straight in my happy moment of being proud of what my body had accomplished over the last nine months. OBVIOUSLY God is the True Creator, but there’s no need to overspiritualize it, I thought to myself.

I didn’t think too much about that incident again until recently when I was studying the book of Daniel, when God brought it to my mind.

In chapter 4, one of the pagan kings, Nebuchadnezzar, was also feeling pretty proud of himself. He walked onto his rooftop one day, looked out over his kingdom and said, “Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.”

At that moment, God made the king go insane. Out of his mind, he lived like a wild animal for quite awhile, eating grass like a cow and everything.

It was quite the punishment, but it goes to show how seriously God deals with pride. He’s the source of every ability, skill, and talent that we have. God alone has the power to build kingdoms, and he demonstrated to Nebuchadnezzar just how easily he can give and take away.

Everything we have is a gift from God. He deserves the credit for giving it all to us. And when we fail to acknowledge his work in our lives, we glorify ourselves instead of him.

And as we can learn from Nebuchadnezzar, that’s not something to take lightly.

It turns out my mom’s comment was on point.

I was startled to notice the parallel between Nebuchadnezzar’s story and my own. My heart is just as prone to pride as his. I’m just as likely to want to lift up myself rather than God.

Thankfully the similarities in our experiences end there, and the Lord chose not to turn me into a wild animal.

Of course, it’s not wrong to be proud of something you’ve achieved (like birthing a baby! Or landing a new job! Or baking a pie!) and even to say so out loud. But it’s important that we don’t take all the credit for ourselves.

To do otherwise would be like accepting an Oscar without thanking anyone, or writing a best-selling book without an acknowledgment section. Everyone’s had help to get to where they are.

Sure, I worked hard to bring my baby into the world. I have every reason to be in awe and wonder at what I was able to do. But I need to take the time to stop and praise God in the midst of that, because he’s the one who made it all possible.