My Way

My Way

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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil,” Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭7‬, NIV‬‬.

I actually have verses 5-6 memorized. But it’s verse seven that I need not only to memorize but adhere to as well. Actually, I need to adhere to all three verses.

Being wise in my own eyes is something I’m very good at. In fact, if it were an Olympic sport, I’d be a competitor. I need to surrender my will, my way, to God daily. When I don’t, or when I decide I might have a better solution, things go crooked.

I recently drove up from LA to the Bay Area to visit my mom, joining their rush hour traffic. It was delightful. As delightful as our Southern California rush hour traffic on the 405. (Side note-have we ever considered renaming this time of day? “Rush Hour” implies that there is actual movement, which we all know—there is not).

As I approached the heart of the Bay Area, I decided that I would take a shortcut—because I knew better. My shortcut added over 30 extra minutes to my journey, causing me to arrive late and cutting short the little time I had to meet up with dear friends before seeing my mom. They were gracious, but I arrived frustrated. Not the emotion I wanted to share with them!

My way was wrong. When something is wrong, it is not good. When it’s not good, the Bible calls it evil. I always cringe a little at the word evil—it’s so final. But the reality is—my way is evil. On this occasion it cost me precious time, of which there was very little to begin with. If I had followed God’s prompting and stayed in the second lane, I would have fared much better. But I didn’t. I chose my way, which had no benefits at all.

These daily reminders of how much I need God, His Spirit, and Jesus’ example of obedience are indeed needed. Daily.

Thank goodness my evil choices weren’t extreme, and they didn’t have lasting consequences. They did remind me that I need to submit all my ways, even the small ones, to God and trust Him.

How are you driving today? Are we in obedience or pretending to be a Formula One driver? Are you listening to the still, small voice of God?

Father,

Thank You that You have not given up on me. You who began a good work in me, You’re actually seeing it through to completion! Thank You.

You are a coach, a friend, as well as my Lord and Savior. Thank You.

Thank You, for all Your gentle reminders that You are good, and Your ways are perfect. Help me trust You better today than I did yesterday.

I love You.

Amen.