What happens if I don’t get it right? Have you ever asked yourself that question? There are so many choices to be made in a day; decisions ranging from the minor to the major. What if I get it wrong? Sometimes don’t you wish you could hand God a blank piece of paper and say, “Could you just fill it out for me, so I can see what you want me to do?” That would be so much easier, wouldn’t it? God could have created the dynamics of our interactions to be like that, but in his sovereignty – well – this is what we’ve got. God was the first to go paperless. He created the Earth and all that is in it, but left no instruction manual. Psalm 89:11 “The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.” It was years in production, but God did hire some talented writers to pen His own words on parchment over a couple thousand years. The Bible, the book with the highest record sales ever, is the instruction manual we have to live by. The issue is, it’s written for every type of make and model without regard to specific names.
Here are a few exerpts from Psalm 139:13-16 “you formed me in my mother’s womb. Thank you, High God for making me body and sou …what a creation! You know me inside and out – exactly how I was sculpted from nothing into something. You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.
God didn’t meet us in the delivery room and hand our parents a piece of paper with step by step instructions on it. He did meet us before we were born though and already made plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Each of us has a purpose; each of us has a free will to make decisions and the intelligence to reason things out. Intelligence though and wisdom are part of the package, but play a different role. Intelligence gathers the facts, wisdom is the part that we get from God – and it’s the most important part of decision making. James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
The decision process isn’t failsafe though, is it? Many of us are impetuous and think we are helping God out by making a choice too early – only to realize it was the wrong answer. Or we decide not to decide – and did you know that even a decision not to make a decision is a decision? Mull that over for a few minutes. Sometimes we wait too long and while God is outside lighting up the sky, and practically playing charades in the sky, we don’t look up to Him and ‘get the message’. We are so accustomed to having instructions written in ink, on a page, that’s unmistakable – so we know what to do next. We wonder “ What if I make a mistake? What if I make a wrong choice? What if I get to the end of my life and realize my whole life has been off course?” Well if you’re reading this, your life hasn’t ended yet. What can you do today to get back on course? God will honor you for coming back to him and his way for you. Isaiah 30:21 says “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
God wants you to ask for guidance, and look to him first. We are not perfect; but we can try. I’m way out of time today and I’m going to now try really hard to get to work on time …. Because that is one thing I know God expects of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKkIt5uphdA
Because of Grace we Press On