Do you always do what God tells you to? Do you always make the decisions that the Bible says are right? I don’t. I wish I could say that I did. But I don’t. Not always. Maybe a good chunk of the time, but not always.
Just being transparent this morning, I don’t even always think the way He wants me to think. In many instances, my thinking is directly opposite of what He wants it to be.
But in spite of that sometimes I can get myself together and do what He says. Sometimes I can make the choices I need to make to live the life I’m supposed to live. But other times? Not so much.
Other times I do what I want, I think what I want, and it doesn’t matter what He says. I know what He says. I’m fully aware of what He says. And I’m fully aware there will be consequences. And I’ve actually even gone so far to say to myself that the consequences will be worth it because I’ve gotten to do what I wanted. I valued what I wanted to do more than what He says is right.
When you get to that point, it’s not about what God says anymore. At that point, it’s about your attitude. And–again, being open and honest–my attitude has sucked for a while.
When your attitude isn’t right, when it doesn’t align with God’s attitude, you have problems, especially as a Christ-follower. Because Christ-followers know better. I know better. But after a while, the stress and the frustration and the anxiety just get to be too much, and you convince yourself that doing what you want to do is better and that the consequences are no big deal.
And whether your sins are white collar or blue collar, at that point, that is a dangerous place to be.
The front porch light at Safe Haven Farm, Haven, KS
Today’s verse is Proverbs 21:2.
People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.
Our attitudes, our hearts, direct our actions. They control what we do and what we say and what we think. You can tell what kind of a person someone else is by their attitude, and you can tell their attitude by the decisions they make.
Attitude is everything.
When your will doesn’t match up with God’s, when what you want to do doesn’t jive with what He says is right, how do you find the strength to do what He says? That strength comes from your attitude toward God.
There have been times in my life where I haven’t wanted to do what God told me, but I did it anyway because my attitude toward Him was right. But when my attitude toward Him isn’t right, I don’t really care what He wants. And maybe I’m the only one who has experienced this, but I kind of doubt it.
So for the next little while, until I can get it through my head, I’m going to be doing a study on attitude. Because I’m tired. I’m tired of being angry and being frustrated and being anxious. I’m tired of relying on myself all the time. I’m tired of trying to make situations work out on my own strength. I’m tired of taking all of that on my own shoulders because I don’t trust God to take care of it the way I want.
I’m just tired.
My attitude hasn’t been what it’s supposed to be, and I recognize that. But I haven’t wanted to do anything about it. And I’m so thankful that God is so patient with me. He lets me have my sulk time. He lets me do things my way long enough for me to realize that it’s not getting better and I really can’t handle life on my own.
So this is me turning my heart back to God where it belongs, doing my best to trust Him even when He doesn’t let things work out the way I want, doing what He says is right even (and especially) when I disagree.
He’s promised that if I honor Him in the things He’s said are right, He’ll take care of everything else. If I obey Him in the things I need to do, He’ll bless me in the things I want to do.
So how’s your attitude today? I hope it’s better than mine has been. But if it isn’t, know that you can still turn back. It doesn’t matter how far away you wander, God always leaves the porch light on.
Always Peachy 