April 17, 2020

Don was very gracious to remind me of something I had written earlier. My humble prayer is that it speaks to you today.
Rerun of Daily Devotional April 16, 2018

This past weekend, I installed a barbed wire fence around a field. Knowing what was coming, I wore a thick shirt and heavy leather gloves. Still, by the time I was done, I had cuts and nicks all over my hands and arms. I looked like I had been on the losing end of a knife fight. This got me thinking.

Eating a healthy diet won’t save me from cancer. Careful driving won’t prevent a drunk driver from crashing into me. Disciplined investing won’t guarantee I can retire comfortably. Praying won’t make all my problems miraculously disappear. Diligent prayer, study, and preparation doesn’t mean every sermon will be a home run. And living the life God intends me to live does not insulate or isolate me from pain and heartache. No one gets a free pass. Life is messy and unpredictable.

So how do we navigate life in a world filled with the random, erratic, and changeable? It is by keeping our feet firmly planted on God’s path for our lives. This is what the wisest of all people meant when he wrote: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Notice the King Solomon doesn’t say that God will make our lives perfect, but our paths will be straight. In other words, even in a world filled with the unpredictable, if we trust God, then we are on the straight path and one day, God will bring us home.

Prayer: Dear Gracious Heavenly God, as I begin a new workweek, I pray my feet never stray from your path. Give me the strength to trust you when it is easy and when it is hard. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Trust God. He will never let you down.

Also, what I said earlier about some of my sermons not being home runs, that’s not true. I was just trying to be humble.

I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins