Choose

Is life just plain hard for you right now? Do you have trouble dragging your weary self from bed? Are troubled thoughts bullying your peace? Me too. I think we all have days like that, but sometimes, those days turn into dark seasons that threaten to steal our hope and our perspective.

Here’s the thing. When we let ourselves get all bent-out-of-shape, it doesn’t affect only us. The people we love suffer. They may even wonder if it was something they did that messed us up. Our influence suffers. People watching us may think, “Jesus doesn’t seem to make much difference in her life. I’m in better shape than her. I don't need Jesus.” Christ Himself suffers. Like the prodigal son’s father grieved his son’s rebellious absence, Christ longs to have us near and well.

It’s so much easier to wallow in our shame and self-pity than to bathe in His grace. It’s so much easier to focus on what’s wrong than on what’s right. It’s so much easier to stay down than to stand up.

Sometimes, we just have to make a decision that today, things will be different.

Today, I choose joy.

Today, I choose to trust God.

Today, I choose to behave like the free, blessed Child of God I am.

Will you join me in giving this “today” to God? Even if you’re in the middle of a bunch of ugly uncertainty? Even if you're rejected or misunderstood?  Even if you just don’t feel like it?

Lord,

I can’t get over how easily I get off-track. Forgive me for allowing less-than-stellar circumstances, other people’s behavior and my own fickle feelings have so much power over my life. Enough! Today, I will choose differently.

Today, I choose joy.

These trials I’m facing will show me Your face like nothing else can. Test me however You need to, Lord. Make me strong through struggle. Keep me reaching my empty hand into Your bottomless bag of wisdom. Keep me practicing my faith until it’s doubtless, single-minded and solid (James 1:2-8).

I resolve, right now, not to let another human being steal my joy. Why? Because the joy is not mine. It is Yours on loan to me. How dare I allow other people play keep-away with something so precious? I will cling to Your joy like priceless treasure. I will not let it out of my sight. “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Though I feel like retreating, I choose to charge forth in joy, knowing You are my shield and my defense against anything I’ll face. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:12 NIV).

Today, I choose to trust You.

Lord, You see the decisions I need to make and the things I need to say and the changes I need to make and the challenges I need to face. I choose to trust in You with my whole heart, so there’s no space for doubts to creep in. With my gaze fixed on You, I can’t go wrong (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Though You’ve lavished my life with supportive people, none of them are as trustworthy as You. We hurt each other with careless words and cold shoulders. We fail to show up when it matters most. We get so caught up in ourselves we can’t see the needs right in front of our faces. But, You, Lord, see us. You understand us. You meet us in our muck and lift us out. Forgive me for demanding God-like devotion from people made of clay. I will trust in You, and You alone.

When I trust in You, fear has no room to roam. When I trust in You, anxiety has no leg to stand on. When I trust in You, my feelings are tools not taskmasters.

Today, I choose to behave like the free, blessed Child of God I am.

Forgive me, Lord, for slamming closed prison bars You died to fling open. I am free, and I will live free.

Forgive me, Lord, for letting sin weeds overrun my soul’s garden. Let’s get our hands dirty, Lord. Help me pull every last weed, Lord, and plant the fruit of Your Spirit in their place. “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT).

With those qualities growing lush in me, I’ll represent You well, no matter my circumstances. No matter how other people behave. No matter if I’m in the mood or not.

My circumstances are the same today as they were yesterday. But, today, I choose to be different. Today, I choose You.

In the joyful, trustworthy name of Jesus, who gives me hope, I say, AMEN and AMEN

Hitting a Roadblock Doesn't Mean Your Journey Is Over

A woman from my Sunday school class died this week. I’ve never met her in person, as she’s been homebound with cancer for longer than I’ve been in the class, but I feel like I know her from all the prayers I’ve prayed. I don’t feel sad for her. She’s free of cancer and all the other cares of this world, but, oh, how I ache for her loved ones. This loss will turn their lives upside down for a long time.

Now that I think of it, the cancer battle already did that.

That reminds me of a friend and her brave teen aged daughter. I can’t begin to imagine how hard it is to watch a child fight cancer. Mommas want to fix all that ails our babies, yet all the mom can do is pray like crazy and take it one day at a time. One day, they were dealing with typical teen stuff, and the next, they were fighting for the daughter’s life.

Life has a way of throwing us curveballs.

Illness, loss, divorce, unemployment, prodigal children…our lives can just turn plain hard in an instant.

Hard circumstances cause us to take a hard look at where we are and where we’re going. We grieve what could have been and sit baffled asking God what’s next. Hard times steal future memories and taint the ones already lived. It’s natural to grief our losses. It’s not selfish to take some time to weep against God’s loving chest.

But when the sobs subside, God is there to position our feet back on His path. Just because we hit a roadblock doesn’t mean our journey’s over. God will forge a new route for the same destination.

It's like finding an alternate route when the one you're on has a "road closed" sign. You don't throw the whole trip out the window because of one road closure. You reroute and get back moving toward the destination. When a reroute is required, it’s a smart move to make a pit stop and gather your bearings.

Prayer is the perfect way to allow our Navigator to punch in our new coordinates and fill our tank with fresh fuel.

Here’s a prayer to help you get started if you find yourself needing a reroute.

Lord,

I don't know where to go from here. I thought my future was set, and now everything feels so up-in-the-air. But, I know my feelings aren't fact. I know nothing catches You by surprise. I know You've got me, Lord. I trust You even when I can't see the next step in front of me.

Though my path is changing, "Your word is [still] a lamp for my feet, [and] a light on my path" (Psalm 119:105 NIV).

"Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long" (Psalm 25:4-5 NIV).

Bring me out of this "in the dark" season and into a new dawn. "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life" (Psalm 143:8 NIV).

To You, I entrust my life.

To You, I entrust my life.

To You, I entrust my life.

Right this moment, I make a conscious decision to trust You completely. I will not buy in to my up-and-down emotions. I will submit this moment and the ones after it to You trusting You to make my path straight and true and honest (Proverbs 3:5-6).

"Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16:5-11 NIV).

I choose to follow You, Lord, wherever You lead me.

In the name of Jesus I pray, AMEN