- VERSE OF THE WEEK:
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all those whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4
I have continued my reading in Jeremiah, but today I don't have any specific verses that stuck out to me. I am in the part of Jeremiah where the Lord is telling the people that He is going to bring judgment on them as a result of the poor decisions that they chose to make.
It got me thinking about when I have to make an important decision. Have you ever had to make an important decision? I am sure you have. I feel like I have had to make a lot of big decisions in the past three years of my life since college. What is so awesome though, is that as a Christian, I serve a God who will lead and guide me in the way that I go. There are times in our lives where a certain decision is a "no brainer". All the facts are clearly presented, and evidence makes the choice an easy "yes" or "no". What about the times when we have to make a decision that isn't easy? It is important to get outside opinions from those we love and care about, but ultimately no matter what different people say, the decision is left in your hands or in my hands to make the final decision. What happens when you have some people advising you to make a certain decision and other people advising you to do the opposite? Not an easy place to be in at all is it.
Well, I have some good news for you. We serve a God who is more than willing to help us when we need guidance. WE SERVE THE ULTIMATE GUIDE. it is amazing to me that whenever I have had to make an important decision in my life, the Lord always leads me in the way that I should go. Sometimes, He slams doors shut and holds other doors open. Sometimes, the answer is more difficult because we don't feel like we truly know. I can tell you from experiences in the past, that it is in those moments that when we continue to seek God's face and His guidance that He gives us a peace that passes all understanding. I know when I make a decision whether or not it is the right one simply by seeing if I have a peace from Almighty God. I remember when I made my decision on where to go to college. Long story short, I took my "letter of intent" out of the mailbox, went back home, thought about it some more, and then realized "YES, Liberty University is where the Lords wants me to go", so back to the post office I went. Was it an easy decision? No, it wasn't...but I can tell you it was the right decision. The Lord taught me so much in my time at Liberty and allowed me to meet some amazing people and make life long friendships. The reality of it is, life is full of choices. Sometimes I wish that God would send me a sticky note with the right answer. The Lord hasn't done that to me yet, but I have come to realize that when we are faced with choices in our life, it is a great opportunity to trust Him. When we trust the Lord, He will reveal His perfect will to us.
I am reminded of this verse, and I think it is great:
"Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you." Psalm 143:8
You know, I have confidence that the Lord will "show me where to walk". It has been my prayer today that I would let Him BE MY ULTIMATE GUIDE. Not only should I be praying this today, but everyday. My encouragement to you, is to "LOOK UP" for guidance when making a decision. Yes, it is important to listen to people's opinions around you, but the most important opinion that matters is the Lord. He will lead and guide you in the way that you need to go. I have been reading through the book of Jeremiah and time and time again it describes the Lord as "the Lord of Heaven's Armies" - I got to thinking about this phrase. Can you imagine - we serve the God of the Universe, but not just that, we serve "THE LORD OF HEAVEN'S ARMIES" - how awesome is that? I wish I would have counted how many times I have read this phrase in Jeremiah. I beckon you to call on "The Lord of Heaven's Armies" to lead and guide you. If He can lead the Army of Heaven, rest assured that He can and will lead you and me. Trust in Him, and I promise you, you will not be disappointed.
One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 139. Some of my favorite verses from the chapter are verses 1-12 which says,
1 O LORD, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, LORD.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
Take a few minutes to read over these verses a few times. These verses are so special to me, because it is a great reminder to me that God is everywhere. We can never escape Him. Why not let Him lead and guide you today? I promise He will show you the right way. There are going to be times where as much as we want to please everyone with a certain decision we have to decide to ultimately please the Lord. I challenge you to "Look up"!!!
The first step in making the right decision is deciding to let the Lord lead you!! :)
Deciding to trust,
Megan