He shifted in his seat, unable to look at me. "I don't know what I'm gonna do. I needed that job. I'm doing everything I know to do, everything I thought God told me, but...it isn't coming out like I thought."
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She wiped the tears from her cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut. "The burden is too big," she whispered. "I'm praying and believing, but I'm so scared. What if...?"
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"My daughter is making terrible choices. I've given her to God, tried everything I know, but she continues on this downward spiral. What am I supposed to do? I can't take this hurt."
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Could one of those illustrations be you?
Many times we've done all we can to obey what God tells us. We are keeping our lives as close to Him as we can, trusting Him as well as we can, but the circumstances are careening out of control. It feels like certain disaster.
And our hearts duck for cover. We go back over every decision, analyze every move, second-guessing our choices until we are a puddle of emotional turmoil.
There is a simple reason we do that. And when we understand the reason, we can swim out of the puddle.
We have adopted the false notion that we are responsible for the results in our lives. Results are not the same thing as consequences. We bring on consequences by making choices that have direct results. If I run a red light in front of a police officer, I get a ticket. That is my consequence.
However, if I have obeyed every law and am pulled over by the highway patrolman anyway, then I am reaping results I did not create.
Often in our walk with God, we get the cart before the horse. We think we know what God intends to do in a given situation, so we begin to pray "in faith" and expect Him to get to it. When He does something differently, we often turn inward. "What did I do wrong? Where did I fail?"
One simple understanding can eliminate a boatload of frustration and spiritual confusion:
I am only responsible to God for my obedience to Him, not the results of that obedience.
Praying "in faith" does not mean I confidently tell God what I expect him to do. Praying in faith means I allow God to so conform my will to His that I place all my trust in his nature and character. I have faith that He will do what is best, even if it does not look like MY idea of best.
Then I confidently obey what He tells me to do and leave the results with him. At the end of every day, there is only one question that every child of God should ask him/herself: Lord, was I as obedient to you today as I know how to be?
If the answer is NO, repent and accept forgiveness.
If the answer is YES, then you're done. Period. The results are up to him.
Freeing, isn't it?
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