So, I decided...

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So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)

So, I decided...these three words can get us into so much trouble at times, can't they? When we lean into our own wisdom or selfish inner drive, we often 'decide' upon things that aren't all that great for us. We pursue things or 'objectives' that are bound to cause us difficulties, but we just don't know it yet. When we lean into God's wisdom, we find our 'deciding' takes us down a different path. We don't always know what it is we are 'deciding' to pursue when we set out on this course of obedience with God, but we can rest assured that the path isn't going to lead us into stuff that will bring us harm or destruction.

The pleasures we enjoy all come from the hand of God - even those we think we have 'produced' by our pursuits in life. He gives us all we are blessed to enjoy and takes us through all that seems hard to find joy within. We aren't going to always understand his ways, with his plans seemingly a little too 'vague' for our liking at times. We don't have to understand to follow - it is in following that we come into understanding. The moment we 'decide' to be obedient is the moment everything within us will cringe just a bit. Why is that? Our own 'objectives' are not always going to be pursued, and we rankle a bit when we have to go another way. 

God knows the struggle is real. He knows we want things to be 'easy', 'smooth sailing' all the way. We want instant gratification. We pursue things we hope will bring us that gratification but have very little awareness of just how much that 'instant gratification' will cost us down the road. I have suffered 'buyer's remorse' on more than one occasion. I can remember the excitement of getting that thing I wanted so badly, only to realize it would not fill my 'enjoyment tank' for very long. If we are to 'decide' to follow Jesus, we might just realize that our 'enjoyment tank' might be filled with a different kind of 'fuel' than we'd think it needed. God knows the very 'fuel' our tank requires, and he provides it even before we 'decide' to allow him to fill it. Just sayin!


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