Trust in the Help of the Lord

"The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."
(Isaiah 50:4-5, 7)

From this scripture I think about my relationship with God, both how He treats me and how I respond to Him. When immersed in ourselves, it can be difficult to see outside of ourselves, which should be obvious but it still happens all the time. When I am stuck in myself I lose sight of goals, ideas, and motivation, among other things, and this can cause arrogance or pity for oneself. It can cause us to feel like we can only trust our own strength. Yet, the strength of the Lord is much greater than our own, and we can rely on God for help so long as we are willing to go outside of ourselves. And sometimes that can be a hard thing! It can be hard to let the smallest crack in our heart be shown to anyone!
However, in my own struggles I have seen the benefit in trusting in the gifts and help of the Lord, and know that when the world falls apart, we can trust in the Lord to remain. I still need to work on this myself, but I do know that I can fully put my trust in the Lord.

A Cure for Arrogance

Arrogance is all too common among humanity. It's like a genetic disease, just waiting to reveal itself. What is it about wealth, fame, or even deeds that cause a person to become a 'me-centered universe'? It seems natural, and yet we despise it in others. Those who think highly of themselves often think of others as lowly, creating a natural blindness to good qualities others may have. And because of this, arrogance naturally separates a person from other people, only making pride worse. It is also an unhappy way to live: imagine being so full of yourself that there is no room for anything, or anyone, else, leaving you completely alone. Though these people may pretend to be happy, often they are not, and it is because by thinking themselves better than others they have naturally put themselves in exile. A gilded cage, as it were, empty of life.

The scriptures talk a lot about pride and arrogance, placing a higher standard of thinking on human kind. Humility is esteemed while pride is brought down.
"And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness." (Isaiah 5:15) Basically, the prideful will be knocked down a peg and God will be revealed as always being the most powerful - an attribute arrogant people think where they are in the hierarchy. Even if they are temporarily wealthy and renowned, eventually they will lose what they have selfishly kept from the poor and needy – though sometimes this does not happen until the afterlife.
From reading and my own personal experience, the cure for arrogance seems to be service. When we take care of those who are in need and help others it becomes easier to understand and have empathy for them. Yes, some stubborn people are still hard-hearted even after giving millions to charities, but those who actually have personal interaction while serving others are giving of themselves; by serving, they acknowledge that these other people are human, and that they are worth something. In this way their bloated esteem slowly returns to healthier levels.