Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Enthusiasm”
Our Bible verse for today: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “You can enthusiastically and confidently go forward with God.”
Uncertainty about the future is one of the most troubling and frustrating things many Christians deal with. We have plans for the future, and we have expectations about how we hope things will turn out, but in truth we just don’t know. Nobody knows the future – except God.
So when it comes to thinking about the future how can we be enthusiastic rather than hesitant, confident rather than fearful? And even more, how can we be decisive and bold, how can we move forward with confidence?
Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us the answer. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” In other words, to the very best of your ability surrender your will for His. Seek His guidance; be willing to put aside your own desires and preferences in exchange for His good and perfect will; ask the Holy Spirit to purify your heart and to help you to genuinely want what God wants.
Then, with your heart right, trust that He will lead you down the path He wants you to go. Remember, God has a good and perfect plan He wants to work-out in your life. He has a vested interest in helping you to make good choices that are consistent with His will. So if your heart is right, and if your desire is to seek His will and be obedient to it, you can trust Him to act as necessary to keep you on the straight path that leads to the goal He has ordained for you.
I frequently pray something like this: “Lord, to the best of my ability I am seeking your will. I’m now stepping out in faith believing You are leading me in this direction. But if I’m wrong, if I’m in any way stepping outside of Your will on this, please make that clear to me and I will stop. Orchestrate events as necessary to keep me moving in the direction You have chosen or, close doors to stop me altogether. Give me the insight and wisdom to honor You with my choices and actions. Not my will but Yours be done.”
Once you’ve prayed something like that, get moving. Far too many Christians allow fear, uncertainty, and doubt to hold them back from doing the things they ought to be doing. That’s unnecessary. God will help you. God will guide you. So get going. Do it with enthusiasm and do it with confidence trusting that God will lead you.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 