Gawking at everything?
The Lord sees everything, and he watches us closely. Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control. (Proverbs 5:21-23 CEV)
None of us can say we watch so closely as to NEVER miss a thing! If I were honest, I would tell you there were times I was watching so closely to see what God would do in a particular circumstance, only to miss him moving somewhere other than where I was focusing! I wasn't looking where he was acting! He focused on another area of my life, but I missed it all together - seeing only the end results, but oblivious to the exact way they happened! We probably are all like this now and again - focusing so intently on one thing and missing where God is moving just a little bit down the road in our lives. Our focus might be too broad. We miss the pothole because we were just gazing at the scenery! Life is a little bit of focusing intently, but not so intently that we cannot see the bigger picture.
When our focus is not correct, we fall into the messy circumstances of life. God has the "bigger picture". He watches us closely - we are part of the "bigger picture" he keeps constantly in his focus. Some may think that God sees everything, so don't get "caught" doing anything wrong. Pursue wisdom - for nothing will guide us in life quite like the pursuit of the person of Christ. Wisdom is found in a person, not in an amassing of knowledge. We pursue Christ, keeping our focus on him, and he will help us to possess the wisdom to make the right choices when the circumstances change, and we need to respond in obedience to his will.
We have been given mothers and fathers to help "raise" us up in the right way we are to live. Even when our "natural" parents weren't all that great, God's provides for what we didn't have in a natural sense - by giving us "spiritual parents" to help us develop this right sense of living. Embrace their advice and listen to their reminders - what you may gain is your life! We have "common sense" to help us in times where a lack of clarity exists. When all else seems to just fall a little short of giving us the full picture, we have this thing known as common sense to guide us. If our conscience and what we know to be true don't disagree, we can move forward because we have used some common sense in making the decision.
We are called to listen and obey. We think we can obey without really listening. We put the cart before the horse if we think obedience can come before really listening to the counsel of God! This is why he asks us to take time with him each day, listen to the wisdom of those he places in our lives, and then to match up what he provides in his Word, times of meditation, and the counsel we have received with what we "know" to be true (common sense). Listen first - then take action. If we'd just get that one lesson down, we'd avoid a whole lot of potholes along the way.
God sees everything and watches us closely. It isn't because he wants to catch us "tripping up", but because he wants us to be successful in our walk with him. The hope does not come in the discovery of the pothole, but in knowing how to avoid it so we don't find ourselves tripped up by our own lack of self-control. Trust the one with the "bigger picture" to guide your path and orchestrate your outcomes, but don't get so caught up in the "scenery" that you lose focus of the path you travel! Just sayin!
None of us can say we watch so closely as to NEVER miss a thing! If I were honest, I would tell you there were times I was watching so closely to see what God would do in a particular circumstance, only to miss him moving somewhere other than where I was focusing! I wasn't looking where he was acting! He focused on another area of my life, but I missed it all together - seeing only the end results, but oblivious to the exact way they happened! We probably are all like this now and again - focusing so intently on one thing and missing where God is moving just a little bit down the road in our lives. Our focus might be too broad. We miss the pothole because we were just gazing at the scenery! Life is a little bit of focusing intently, but not so intently that we cannot see the bigger picture.
When our focus is not correct, we fall into the messy circumstances of life. God has the "bigger picture". He watches us closely - we are part of the "bigger picture" he keeps constantly in his focus. Some may think that God sees everything, so don't get "caught" doing anything wrong. Pursue wisdom - for nothing will guide us in life quite like the pursuit of the person of Christ. Wisdom is found in a person, not in an amassing of knowledge. We pursue Christ, keeping our focus on him, and he will help us to possess the wisdom to make the right choices when the circumstances change, and we need to respond in obedience to his will.
We have been given mothers and fathers to help "raise" us up in the right way we are to live. Even when our "natural" parents weren't all that great, God's provides for what we didn't have in a natural sense - by giving us "spiritual parents" to help us develop this right sense of living. Embrace their advice and listen to their reminders - what you may gain is your life! We have "common sense" to help us in times where a lack of clarity exists. When all else seems to just fall a little short of giving us the full picture, we have this thing known as common sense to guide us. If our conscience and what we know to be true don't disagree, we can move forward because we have used some common sense in making the decision.
We are called to listen and obey. We think we can obey without really listening. We put the cart before the horse if we think obedience can come before really listening to the counsel of God! This is why he asks us to take time with him each day, listen to the wisdom of those he places in our lives, and then to match up what he provides in his Word, times of meditation, and the counsel we have received with what we "know" to be true (common sense). Listen first - then take action. If we'd just get that one lesson down, we'd avoid a whole lot of potholes along the way.
God sees everything and watches us closely. It isn't because he wants to catch us "tripping up", but because he wants us to be successful in our walk with him. The hope does not come in the discovery of the pothole, but in knowing how to avoid it so we don't find ourselves tripped up by our own lack of self-control. Trust the one with the "bigger picture" to guide your path and orchestrate your outcomes, but don't get so caught up in the "scenery" that you lose focus of the path you travel! Just sayin!
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