Day 12

TRUST WHAT YOU KNOW, INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU FEEL
Did you notice I skipped straight to the lesson today? It's been one of those days, so God has been whispering this in my ear since I rolled out of bed this morning. I am an emotional person. I'm passionate about the people and things I care about, and I often want to let my feelings guide me through my life. As I said a couple of days ago, I don't believe that God wants me to discount that entirely. He made me with these inclinations that can help me to find compassion for those who need it, but that doesn't mean I can afford to follow my feelings when they may sometimes lead me farther away from God's plan to protect and prosper me.

"Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him." Ecc. 8:5-6
--These verses remind me that the more I practice obedience to the Lord, the better my heart will know how to make the most difficult decisions. I can't let my doubt and fear get the best of me when I know I'm walking in the center of God's will.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
--When decisions need to be made, when life calls to be lived, when we face heat and drought and worry, confidence in God always sustains us. I want my life and my actions to bear fruit that points others toward Christ, and according to this verse, I just have to trust God even when I don't feel like it.