Could it be you?

Confucius said, "Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated." What makes your life more complicated than it needs to be? I daresay that if we were to answer that one honestly, we'd all have something that we'd have to admit just muddles things up for us time and time again. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, "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." If we want to 'uncomplicate' our lives, it begins with trusting in the Lord. As we dedicate our hearts to do his will, seeking life instead of death with each of our actions, we tend to 'uncomplicate' the things that we get so muddled up on own.

Seek his will IN all you do - it is in our actions that most of the complications of life manifest themselves, but all action begins with thought and that originates from what is within our minds. We can develop a much better and consistent plan of action when it is submitted to the will of our heavenly Father. The more we choose his will over our own, the more we will see the 'muddle' of life sort itself out. It isn't that we did the sorting - it is God's movement within our lives that takes us to the place of being 'sorted out'.

The path to take isn't always evident, so we seek directions. In modern days, we turn on the GPS and navigate our way to the destination we desire. If you have ever tried to do so without really knowing the full name of the business, with just a general idea of where it might be, you can be in for a bit of a search even though you have the right tools in front of you to help you with that search. The same is true with our daily life decisions - we have all the right tools in front of us, but we somehow don't know how to use them as we should. This is where we need the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives - to help us with knowing how it is we trust when we find it difficult to trust, seeking his understanding of the situation over our own.

The 'simple' life isn't one that has us being led around by a ring in our nose, submitting to the 'will' of the one who is doing the leading because it is too painful not to. It is 'simple' because we get rid of the things that complicate it so much, like our self-will, pride, and lust. There is freedom in being led - nothing holds us bound any longer. As we submit our will to his, we find the very things that eluded our attention, leading us to question our every move, seem to be 'sorted out'. Why? God wants us to see truth, then learn to live within that truth. He delights in showing us truth. It is the beginning of wisdom. Next time you find yourself facing things more complicated that you'd imagined, perhaps it would be the right time to ask God what is making things so 'complicated'. Don't be surprised if he shows you it is you! Just saying!