Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way. 

As it turns out we had a couple of stowaways that tagged along with us on our journey back to Kentucky. Those stowaways being my mom and my dad, Kelly and Brian Sipe. They had some family matters to tend to a few hours from us, so they made the rest of the trip down and are spending a few days with us before they fly home on Saturday. We aren’t planning on doing a whole lot as I am still working, but I switched my days off so I actually worked today (which at the time I’m recording this is Monday) so I could take Tuesday off. I am actually recording this podcast from a conference room in a hotel just outside of Cincinnati, as tomorrow are doing something fun with the kids and their grandma & grandpa in this area. We will be spending the day at the aquarium in Newport, Kentucky. We have never been before, but I have heard firsthand from multiple people who have been here even recently how awesome this place is. I think I might be just as excited as the kids are, because I love marine life. Aquatic animals are simply majestic as they glide through the water in what very well feels like an entirely different world. You will regularly catch me watching some BBC special on ocean life at home, because I am just fascinated by it all. There is, however, one group of creatures that I am not so excited about that live in the water – and that would be sharks. To be perfectly candid, I am more afraid of sharks than perhaps any other animal that exists in the entire world, be it land or sea. I like to think of it as a healthy fear though, at least that’s what I like to tell myself. Honestly, I blame my dad, who let me watch “Jaws” at a very young age much to my mother’s displeasure, but that’s another story for another time. My fear is not crippling by any means, I mean I watch shark week like another other normal American does, and I’m not nervous about being around sharks tomorrow at the aquarium. But that’s an entirely different scenario with them being in a reinforced, secure tank while I’m viewing them on dry land than if we were both in the water together. The idea of being in the ocean and a shark approaching me literally sends shivers down my spine. I think the greatest reason for my fear of sharks or rather my being in the water with sharks is about control. In the water, I am 100% out of control and therefore also 100% vulnerable. The ocean is dark, so you can’t see as you burn energy at an alarming rate just trying to tread water. You are completely defenseless in the sense that you can’t outswim a shark, you can’t do hand to hand combat with a shark if it attacks you, nor can you just find the nearest tree and climb it to get away from a shark. When you’re in the water, you are completely at the mercy of a shark. That’s why I’m not afraid of seeing them tomorrow, because I still will be absolutely in the position of control – I won’t be vulnerable and able to get hurt. But I’ll tell you what, aside from a shallow beach in Florida, you’ll never catch me jumping into the water in the ocean anywhere. Not today sharks. Not today. 

At this point you might be laughing at me because you think I’m a wuss, or maybe you’re nodding your head in agreement as a fellow sympathizer to shark phobia. In either case, there is something far more dangerous to talk about here than sharks – and that is pride. The Proverbs speak at length about pride and warn us against it. Consider some of the following thoughts: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2) “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:8) “One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23) In fact, the Proverbs go on to say that pride is an abomination to the Lord, and even the New Testament writers tell us God opposes the proud. You might be thinking, “what does this have to do with my fear of sharks?” Well, everything – because pride manifests itself in different ways. Sometimes pride manifests itself in a refusal to ask for help in humility, or sometimes it manifests itself through our self-centeredness. But more often than not, pride manifests itself in our demand to always be in control. We want to be in control, or rather have the allusion of being in control, because it makes us feel safe. That’s because when you admit you are not in control or you give up your position of authority & power, that makes you extraordinarily vulnerable, doesn’t it? Proverbs 3:5-6 says the following, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” But this is a very difficult thing to do, isn’t it? At the root of our struggle to trust God or even trust others is pride and our desire to be in control. To trust another person, such as say your spouse, requires letting go and also in away giving another person power over you. Because to let go of pride and control in trusting someone else, that leaves you vulnerable to be hurt as you have opened up yourself to them. Through trust, you are completely at the mercy of someone else, and that’s why so many people are closed off to others. And yet more than trusting another person, pride is the very thing that prevents us from every fully trusting in God. Rather than throwing ourself at his mercy, trusting him with all of our heart, in our pride we lean on our own understanding and give ourselves the allusion of being in the driver seat of our life. But here’s the thing, while God is infinitely more powerful than a shark, you don’t have to worry about drawing near to him. If you trust him and relinquish your control he will not harm you, rather he will love you, protect you, and guide you in the way in which you ought to go. Opening yourself up to become vulnerable to God will not leave you hurt, it will leave you healed. So jump in the water. Let go of your pride, let go of your control, and in humility start learning to trust God to take the lead in your life. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and weekly video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.