You have a Choice

This morning the air is cool and refreshing, the day quiet with a certain stillness here before teams and activities arrive to consume the day.  A good time to be still and listen to God.  My devotional this morning was from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4, verse 34:  “he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything to them in private to His disciples.”  Here’s the rest of the devotional, from “My Utmost for His Highest”:

“The lives of others are examples for us, but God requires us to examine our own souls. It is slow work—so slow that it takes God all of time and eternity to make a man or woman conform to His purpose. We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We don’t even recognize the envy, laziness, or pride within us when we see it. But Jesus will reveal to us everything we have held within ourselves before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look inwardly with courage?

We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we will never say, “Oh, I’m so unworthy.” We will understand that this goes without saying. But as long as there is any doubt that we are unworthy, God will continue to close us in until He gets us alone. Whenever there is any element of pride or conceit remaining, Jesus can’t teach us anything. He will allow us to experience heartbreak or the disappointment we feel when our intellectual pride is wounded. He will reveal numerous misplaced affections or desires—things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. Many things are shown to us, often without effect. But when God gets us alone over them, they will be clear.”

Before waking this morning God clearly spoke along the exact same lines to me, and challenged me and my attitudes towards my circumstances today.  We’ve awoken still without water, and He is asking Am I still going to choose Him, Am I still going to have a good attitude and trust Him, in spite of the circumstances?  

God never promised the christian life would be easy or that we’d get everything we wanted or thought we needed.  He knows what we need, and has promised to provide it.  Sometimes I just need to get myself out of the way and allow Him to do His work in me.  

Today is the second anniversary of the Haiti earthquake on January 12th 2010 (photos above).  On that day the earth shock, 2 ft high waves rolled across the ground like waves on the sea, buildings came crashing down and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in a few minutes.  This country is still trying to pick itself up from the disaster.  Today we’ll have a Memorial service of that day. I cannot begin to explain or rationalize the whys of that or many similar days, just to know something my mom taught me very clearly a little over a year ago:  Sometimes moving on to be with the Lord is actually a great day of celebration, a blessing, and even though those left behind are sad or traumatized or left feeling empty, God is still in control and we can learn to trust Him.  We need to trust Him.  We only can trust Him, we are not in control ourselves.  When things aren’t going our way and we’re feeling down, to paraphrase an old song “...You’ve got a Friend”, and that friend is Jesus.  Look to the Lord, believe and accept Him, if you feel cornered and alone, you may be in the best pace of your life, the place where you can accept God’s love and forgiveness for you, and the precious gift of His son, Jesus Christ.  

PS: the electrician just arrived and went over to the correct panel box, and voila! the pump fuse had tripped.  We have water again, and I also have a great insight in the Lord that even in spite of challenging circumstances (like yesterday) I still have a choice, and I still am blessed... whether I know it or not.  

Have a GREAT day!