October 14, 2024: God Resists the Proud

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Dear Praying Friends:

In January 2013, while driving home from a conference at which I had given a paper that was well received, I was inflated with self-confidence. Not because of the paper, for I knew that it was the product of your prayers, but as a result of a grossly exaggerated estimate of my academic competence in several fields.

This self-deception was utterly deflated a few days later when I was diagnosed with the flu, strep throat, and “a light touch of early pneumonia.” I spent the next several months mostly in bed lamenting my arrogance.

You know that I have felt wiped out recently from the effects of a virus. Last Thursday, wanting to find out what was wrong, and also because Dori thought my cough sounded too deep, I went to a nearby urgent care facility (my usual provider had no in-person openings). The doctor was very thorough, ordering blood tests and an X-ray. The X-ray showed signs of “bacterial infection in both lungs,” which he diagnosed as early pneumonia. He prescribed two antibiotics, to be taken concurrently.

A doctor at my usual provider’s office confirmed that diagnosis later that day in a virtual appointment. She, too, was concerned about my cough, which had deepened. And I was feeling much worse. Instead of just feeling wiped out, I am almost totally depleted. I’ve spent the last three days in bed, unable to read (except the Bible), write, or make calls.

As usual, I asked God whether he might be disciplining me for some sin.

Immediately, I realized that when I have told people that repeated tests and examinations had shown that I am basically healthy, though weak from lack of exercise (and I don’t take any of the medications that many of my peers do), I have given credit to the vegetarian diet I have followed for more than two decades, and have pointed them to Dr. Michael Gregor’s website (https://nutritionfacts.org/). Though I have also admitted that an accident or serious illness could change that situation, the emphasis was upon my diet.

This “early pneumonia” has forcefully reminded that my health, and indeed, my life, depends upon God’s mercy alone, and not on anything I have done.

Thank you for praying last week. Dori made it safely to the Houston airport Tuesday and brought back her sister Jean and Jean’s husband, Tom. We’ve had a lovely visit together, and they all greatly enjoyed the church’s “Hope” conference.

Two new stories have been added to the Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity (https://www.bdcconline.net/).

My biographical history of the China Inland Mission is now available for purchase online (https://book.endao.co/en/product/ip183/); with a reading sample at https://pdf.timotai.org/book/cim_en/index.html#page=1.

T. wrote me to say that she has finally been granted a visa to study in Germany. Now she has to leave as soon as possible to get there before school starts.

For your prayers (Pick two or three): Please ask God to

• Remind us all daily to humble ourselves before him in absolute dependence upon his mercy and grace.
• Help me to recover quickly, so I can resume reading, writing, and calling.
• Give Tom and Jean safe travel back to California Thursday.
• Watch over Dori as she flies and then drives to the funeral of an old friend and prayer partner, and make her a blessing to the family.
• Enable T. to leave China quickly, travel smoothly to Germany, and begin graduate studies on time.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

Yours in his grace,
Wright