You or me, God?

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. (Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG)

What do we trust without even thinking about it? We get in our cars and hit the ignition button, just trusting it will turn over and we will be on our way without delay. When the car battery is rundown, corrosion amassed on the connections, or simply just too old to work any longer, will we be on our way? Nope - we will need a jump, recharge, or a new battery! What we 'counted on' failed us. When we count on stuff, people, or events to be or go as they should, we might just find we are disappointed from time to time. When we count on God to be who he always is, we will never be disappointed.

If you have ever been in a muddle or quandary about a situation, you probably have done some of the common things we all do. You utilize a 'plus/minus' list of the variables. You talk things over with a trusted friend. You might even seek professional help such as the wisdom of a counselor. Trying to figure things out on our own only goes so far. We will eventually come to an end of our earthly wisdom. I have had issues with home repairs, not knowing what to do next, only to find I had to stop trying to fix it myself and seek the right help for the issue. Sometimes the very best thing we can do is seek the right help, but we are too doggone stubborn and set in our ways to actually do it!

When we learn to seek God's will FIRST - not after we attempt to figure out whatever it is that brings us angst - we find the angst we experience while trying to get the muddle all worked out doesn't actually occur. Why? We took ourselves out of the issue and put ourselves into God's hands. We allowed him to show us what WE needed to do and what HE would do. There is nothing 'magic' that occurs - it is just a change in the perspective we maintain over the issue. We aren't in the middle of it, trying to muddle through it on our own - we are above it, allowing him to show us how to stay out of the muddle while he sets things in order that will bring about the solution to the issue.

The instructions we received in today's passage are pretty plain: DON'T TRY TO FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT ON YOUR OWN. Listen to God's voice in EVERYTHING you do, EVERYWHERE you go. The more we listen, the more wisdom we receive. It is amazing how that works, isn't it? The less we mess with the muddle, the less the muddle messes with us! The moment we stop to seek his will and direction is the moment the muddle moves from our control to his. The issue isn't if we could have figured it out on our own - the issue is why do we try to do it on our own? Just askin...