Sometimes I am truly blown away by how well the Lord knows my soul. It's like He knows exactly what medicine to feed it; sometimes without me even knowing it. When I was in Zambia, my mom sent over a devotional book for me with one of my best friends who was coming to see me that week. It is called Daily with the King by W. Glen Evans, and I cannot even begin to express how much truth I have found in these words in even the short time that I have had this book. They are just short little devos, what I like to call "Megan Length", because I don't have the attention span to sit through a really long passage...It will lose me and the point will get overshadowed in the length. Tonight, I was catching up on the devos, because I had missed a few during the week and the wisdom in them is just too wonderful to not go back and completely soak in! Here's one of the ones that I caught up on; it so deeply hit home that I couldn't help but share it.
The Discipline of Decision Making
The process that brought me to Jesus in the first place goes on long after I have trusted Him as Savior. The difference is not in the nature of the decision, but in the nature of the things sacrificed. When I yielded to the saviorship of Christ, I sacrificed my sins; now in my Christian walk I must keep sacrificing those things that keep me from being my best for Him. The "pearl of great price" makes this clear. The merchant sold his good things in order to obtain the best thing (Matthew 13:45-46).
I must learn to do business in my Christian life, to "exchange" things as Jesus did. "In exchange for the joy lying around Him, He endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2, author's trans.) Jesus saw what was infinitely good and surrendered it for something infinitely better. Daily I will be confronted with a "good" that must be exchanged for a "better"; otherwise I invite spiritual stagnation. The discipline of decision making does not end the moment I accept Christ as my Savior. It is in this process of making decisions that God weans me more and more from what I am to what I was meant to be.
To be able to use that which is better I need insight and willpower. Insight tells me the difference between the "common" and the "holy" (Ezekiel 22:26); willpower commits me to it. Thus, my Christian life will always be a series of crisis that brought me to Christ. I must forever accept the fact that both birth and growth are traumatic; yet the trauma leads to a burgeoning spiritual life that is positively thrilling! The "things...that God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9) are for this life, not only the life to come, and they make the Christian adventure richer than any sight or sound experienced by the natural man.
"And Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21).
I have always said that I believe in a "good", a "better", and "best" for people in all situations. However I also think that sometimes our sinful human nature makes us too impatient to wait for the Lord's "best" for us, and we end up settling for "good". And while "good" is tolerable, it simply isn't "best". It's like settling for bronze over gold. Wait for "best"; choose gold. I promise it is well worth the wait.
"Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." -Habakkuk 1:5
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