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 lift up my soul! (Psalm 143:8, NIV)
It’s finally warming up here in Oklahoma, but playing golf is always iffy this time of year. You can plan to play, but you never quite know what the new day will bring. It might be 65 and sunny and a definite go for golf. It is just as likely to be 45 and rainy, or 75 and winds blowing 20-30 mph. Spring is definitely erratic here. You eventually learn to plan to play but accept it if you can’t.
When you think about it, life is like that. Don’t we all love to plan ahead and prepare for what we have planned? That’s why we get so annoyed when something or someone interferes with our plans. Is this really how we are supposed to live our lives, or does God have something different in mind?
Our verse for today is from the book of Psalms and gives us a rather direct answer to that question. It appears that God would very much like us to trust him to order our days. There is only one real reason we don’t look to him more often for guidance. We don’t really trust that he has our best interest at heart, because we don’t truly understand his unfailing love for us. We still believe we have to protect ourselves even from his best intentions for us. There is that little part of our mind that tells us nobody can be more trusted than we ourselves can be.
Do I really trust in the One who made me and loved me enough to die for me? Is there anyone more trustworthy than that?
We learn at a young age that the best person to look out for our interests is us. So, we plan our days with many good things and ask God to bless them and us. Then we find ourselves disappointed when things don’t work out as we have planned, and we wonder if God is not really in control after all. We planned, we asked God to bless us, and things turned out in a disappointing way. The forecast called for 5-mph winds and sunshine, and when we got to the course it was raining cats and dogs. Was God involved in that? I believe the answer to that question is always yes. He is involved in everything in our life and controls the very breaths we breathe.
To avoid disappointment when our plans fail to materialize in the way we thought they should, we need to focus our attention on the order of our verse for today: “Let the morning (the first part of the day) bring me word (knowledge based on Scripture) of your (God’s) unfailing love, for I (all who trust in Jesus) have put my trust in you (not my own wisdom). Show me the way I should go (not necessarily the way I have planned to go) for to you (my Creator and the wisest of the wise) I lift up my soul (the center of who I am).”
Ask yourself these questions: Do I really trust in the One who made me and loved me enough to die for me? Is there anyone more trustworthy than that? Am I more trustworthy than that?
God doesn’t expect us to wait in paralyzing fear of making a mistake, but he really loves for us to trust him enough to consult him about the plans he has for us. He will be pleased, and we will be disappointed less as we see him order our days.
—
Linda Ballard
April 8, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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