HOW MUCH DOES THE LORD INFLUENCE YOUR DECISIONS?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:19-20)

MEDITATION:
Many of us can get ‘caught up in a moment’ and try to solve issues
or conflicts in our own way, using our capabilities. The problem is,
we often find that we are not fully equipped for resolving conflicts
or issues in our own strength.

We may have ideas and can formulate a plan, but is it the ‘best’ plan?
If we try to solve problems without including the Lord in our efforts,
we can find that there are some areas we have overlooked. And when
that happens, it causes us to realize that our ego and self-sufficiency
have prevented us from having complete dependence on the Lord.

How does God feel about our arrogant pride and egotism? He HATES it!
Anything that God ‘hates’ should not be a part of our lives. God wants our
dependence, and not our independence. Why? Because independency is an
indicator that we don’t ‘feel’ any need for God’s help. Sounds ludicrous,
doesn’t it? He created us and knows our capabilities, and yet, we have
decided that we don’t need Him?

Whenever we lose our ego and our arrogant pride, it paves the way for
us to start developing humility (which God loves in those who are part
of His family). When we recognize that we are spiritually immature, we
will readily admit that we need God in our lives and we will have a closer
fellowship with our Creator.
    Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
    (James 4:10)

Look at what Jesus said about Himself:
    Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
    for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
    will find rest for your souls.
    (Matthew 11:29)
Since Jesus is the One we have chosen to follow, shouldn’t
we have a desire to develop His characteristics in our lives?

If we are still holding onto our ego and arrogant pride with a tight fist, God
may overwhelm us with some issue or problem that causes us to call on Him;
something beyond our capability of coping with, in our own strength. When
we realize that we can’t find any answers (or peace) without the Lord, we
discover that God loves us too much to allow us to continue in a rut that will
move us away from Him and contribute to our lack of humility.

With good intentions, some think,
    “The Lord has bigger things to deal
      with so I’ll handle this on my own”
However, that’s not the relationship He wants with us. As we see in
Matthew, the Lord wants to be involved in all that we do. And when
we allow His influence on our lives, we will see our relationship with
Him grow stronger.

When God prevents us from doing things our way, He is doing us a
huge favor (greater than we could imagine). He can see the entire big
picture, but we can only see a snapshot. When we claim to have faith
in the Lord, it means we have decided to trust Him completely.

In our earthly world, we stand when a president, judge, or other person
of note enters the room. However, as believers, we are also citizens of a
spiritual world where we bow down when the King of kings enters the
room. Why? Because it is a humble position for those with a desire to
include His superiority in every area of their life. It also reminds us to
consult with Him ‘first’ in every problem or issue we face.

ACTION:
Questions to consider:
    – What am I still withholding from the Lord;
       what have I failed to surrender to Him?
           Is it my time, my selfishness, my ego,
           my pride, His tithe, or anything else?
    – When do I plan to relinquish everything to Him?

Imagine this scenario:
    You have a sin that you know is wrong, but you’re having a struggle
    breaking away from it. You keep trying to stop committing the sin on
    your own, but with no success. At some point, you decide to pray for
    the Lord’s help, but it is more of a ‘casual’ prayer than a prayer that
    is ‘passionately sincere’.

    Why would this prayer lack the same level of desire as other prayers
    you have prayed? More than likely it is because you secretly want to
    ‘hold onto’ the sin. A ‘casual’ prayer may help you alleviate some level
    of guilt, because after all, you prayed about it and are waiting on the
    Lord to answer your somewhat insincere prayer. That means you are
    not really ready to surrender your all to the Lord, doesn’t it?

    But a word of caution: what you think is a ‘casual’ prayer, the Lord
    may treat as a ‘sincere’ prayer and respond in an unexpectedly harsh
    way. Why? Because He knows that deep down, although you know it
    is a sin, you are not willing to diligently separate yourself from it. As a
    result, God knows that severe action is required for you to break away
    from the sin that is chained to your weakness, and keeping a gap in the
    relationship you have with your Heavenly Father.

We may think that ‘someday’ we will surrender our all to Him.
‘Someday’ we will become dependent on His presence and help.
Shouldn’t that ‘someday’ be ‘this day’? We shouldn’t wait until
we are on the brink of meeting Him face to face. We shouldn’t
wait until we no longer Have the opportunity to include Him in
our life and we suffer with regret for never giving Him our all.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for trying to solve things myself.
Help me to develop a habit of always coming to You first, and
accepting Your answer over my own ideas, logic and emotions.
Show me the things that I am still holding onto, and help me to
release them into Your loving care, so I can grow closer to You.”

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