Tuesday, February 23, 2010

LastCall: Life is not predictable. -Mike MacIntosh

The wise in heart will receive commands, but a prating fool will fall.
Proverbs 10:8

Life is not predictable. If we knew with certainty what would happen tomorrow, we would never doubt, never second-guess, and never question our plans and decisions today, because we would already know their end results. But things change, for better or worse -- and often in ways we can't predict. We don't know what to expect in the future, so we often do second-guess ourselves, those around us, and even God. It's human nature to worry about the unknown -- and to avoid it. It's natural to resist what we can't see. But there's one problem: If we resist what we can't see, we resist God.

David writes in Psalm 55:19 about his enemies of old, "Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God." He knew that it was impossible to honor the Lord without being willing to change. Without a willingness to venture into the unknown, we can never follow God, because His ways are not ours. God says in Isaiah 55:9, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." You see, to follow God is to put confidence in the superiority of His ways, even when we can't understand them and we don't know where they'll lead us. To follow God is to embrace continuous change.

It's easier said than done, isn't it? Change can be very difficult because it inevitably makes us vulnerable. It exposes us. Whenever something changes in our lives, we experience a learning curve -- and our success or failure to adapt hinges on our ability to learn. That's why Proverbs 10:8 says, "The wise in heart will receive commands, but a prating fool will fail."

You see, God does not call us to be experts, but to be students. An expert babbles on about what he knows, while a student adapts to what he learns. Sure, the student will make mistakes and even fail sometimes. But in failing, he is learning. The real failure belongs to the expert, who does not change, even as the world around him does. We must not be afraid to be like students -- constantly learning, constantly failing, constantly growing, and constantly changing.

Today, maybe you are facing changes in your life, whether good or bad. Let me encourage you to play the role of the student. Be willing to listen to God's instructions, and be willing to adapt. Don't be afraid to be vulnerable, and don't be afraid to fail, because there is no greater failure than growing stagnant. Yes, changes sometimes hurt. My pastor, Chuck Smith, has a saying: "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken." Be willing to change, and change will not break you.

Life is not predictable, but "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 18:8). Don't miss God's will simply because you're afraid of the unknown. Put your trust in the One "who was and is and is to come" (Revelation 4:8), and He will be your rock through every circumstance!

Devotions with Emotion

Michael James Stone

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