Me, God, or God, Me, Weighing my Choices

I have been doing a study in Proverbs in my daily devotional. I came across a sentence that read, ‘All men were born simple, ignorant, and foolish; without correction and instruction they will be perplexed and punished by life.” Proverbs ain’t no joke, it shots straight from the hip for real. Anyway, as I pondered this for a while, I thought about the effects this statement has had on my life, ladies, this goes for us as well. I have been simple in my understanding of most of life’s situations and circumstances. I have been ignorant in raising kids, in marriage, in relationships, in work and career choices, and in business dealings. I have done so many foolish things; I can even count them and don’t care too, but in all the bumps, bruises, beat downs, blisters, and bang ups, I have learned the many lessons needed to grow in life.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has a plan for our lives, one where He has worked out all the details for us, one to give us peace, one with a wonderful future, and one filled with hope. How awesome is that? The thing is we also have a plan for us, one to do any and everything we want to do, one to live selfishly, self-centered, self-righteously, and self-fulfilled. How senseless is that? The problem is we always want to live in our plan first; we want to see where we can get in life on our own, with no help from anyone, not even God. The study goes on to say, “We lack the ability to quickly and accurately discern, comprehend, analyze, and choose wisely, so we remain gullible, naïve, silly, and stupid.” Man this is harsh. I have never looked at myself in this way. I thought I was a fairly smart individual able to make good decisions concerning me and mine. They say the truth hurts, so I have to except my situations and circumstances along with the consequences that have followed.    

It is not until our plans have gone terrible awry that we begin to seek God and His plan for us. Oh what a simple, ignorant, and foolish people we are. Oh, but what an awesome God we serve. I’m so glad God is a God of second, third, fourth, and more chances. Say thank you and hallelujah somebody. He will allow us to stumble and fall until we have had enough and then like Peter walking on water, He is right there to pull us up when we fall and put us back on the path that He has planned for us, one of love, promise, and abundant living in Christ Jesus.

You always here Christians walking around telling everyone, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.” I have a question for you, do you really believe that? If we really believe it, we would trust Him in His word instead of getting irritated in waiting for His perfect timing, thinking, “I can do this by myself.” We would trust Him when someone dies instead of blaming Him for our loss, “Why did you take so and so from me?” We would trust Him to find our mate instead of looking at everything walking as our next spouse, ending up in divorce court two years later, “God is that him, is that her?” All of these actions in believing God is good are simple, ignorant, and foolish. A man who truly believes in the goodness of God is stable, knowledgeable, clever, and wise. Next time you consider the goodness of God make sure you believe it and live in it with thanksgiving. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.