I can almost gloat

With the quite stunning reversal of World Vision's original decision to hire people in homosexual marriages in states that have deemed them legal, I could almost gloat.

Not because I had much to do with it.  I didn't.  You can measure my impact with a ridiculously long list of zeroes to the right of the decimal point.

Frankly, not because I invested all this prayer into it.  I didn't.  I remember muttering something like, "Et tu, Brute?" to the Throne Room when I heard about it.  I remember praying before posting.  I have to call that about it.

Not because I'm a stakeholder in World Vision.  We did sponsor a child through them about 3 years ago.  When our sponsored child left the program, we chose not to renew.  We were donor-fatigued from the extra mailings and phone calls we got from them.  Previously, we had sponsored a child through Compassion International.  Our experience was very different with them, which is why I continually recommend them.

None of those reasons.

I could almost gloat because I was on the "winning" side.

Even typing that into words makes me not particularly like the guy typing it.  It's pride.  That thing God actively, present-tense opposes.  Ugh.

I don't get to gloat when the Kingdom advances because it's not my Kingdom.  I don't get to gloat when Truth wins the day because I'm not its author.  I don't get to gloat when prayers are answered in the way I pray them because they aren't my answers (and there have been a Library-of-Congress-size catalog of prayers that haven't been answered in the way I prayed).

And I don't get to gloat in this moment either (though the temptation is admittedly there).

Here's where I am this morning and I hope it's helpful to someone:  when the right thing is done and you're on that side, don't gloat.  Go on about your business and keep doing right.  There will be a day when you are on the side of right but the wrong thing is done.  Go on about your business and keep doing right.

Because the measure isn't whether you won or lost - it's whether or not you remained faithful.