Image by crunklygill via Flickr I heard myself inwardly praying just now, "Lord, please give me wisdom in my priorities.""Whose priorities?" He asked.
Oh. Yeah. Right.
Lord, I need wisdom in Your priorities, don't I? I could be incredibly wise about my own priorities and be a complete fool with Yours.
You know, when we remember that everything revolves around God, it can simplify a lot of things.
Should we or shouldn't we bow our heads and close our eyes and thank God for our food at the restaurant? We can ask ourselves what impact we do or don't think that will have on other patrons. We can ask ourselves whether or not we'll look foolish. Some people will come down on one side of that argument, and some on another.
Or we could ask ourselves what God deserves.
That simplifies everything, doesn't it?
Should I finish my housework, or should I work on my blog? Ah...now that's not as simple. Both can be done to the glory of God. If I just ask the Lord to give me wisdom regarding my priorities, I might not hear the still, small voice. I might not really be listening for it, because I'll be too busy thinking about my own desires and weighing them in my own scales.
But if I ask Him to give me wisdom about His priorities, I know exactly what will happen (because it has happened). Which does God command women to do? Which of those things would my husband rather I did? Which would benefit my family more? It's really very easy, when I consult His priorities instead of my own (which tend to be far too strongly influenced by my personal preferences).
Lord, help us to remember to look at our choices and ask:
What have You commanded or taught us?
What do You deserve from us?
What would bless You?
What would glorify You?
And then please increase our love for You, so that Your commandments will be a joy to us, and we won't insult You by thinking of them as burdens (1John 5:3).
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That is wonderful and very insightful. Thank you so much for sharing your heart.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you.
Kim
Well said, Betsy. I'm always tempted to focus more on what else I could be doing instead of that which I should be doing. Great post.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing your thoughts with us today AT THE WELL. Priorities can get messed up and I know at times I am guilty of sitting at the computer working on my blog devotion while a pile of laundry awaits me. It is my desire to serve God to the best of my ability with all things! -Blessings, Laurie
ReplyDeleteWow this was some great words!!! Thank you! This really blessed me!
ReplyDeleteThis was good. It is about letting God redirect our priorities. And the part about choosing one good activity over another good activity...so true. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting what you said about blogging. Allowing blogging to take too much time away from God's priorities for me was the reason I stopped blogging a year ago. You recently stopped by my blog and read my post about wanting public applause. Well blogging had become that same thing sort of. You know, having the "best" ministry to women, having the most well-read blog. The Lord showed me that once again I was focusing on the applause and attention of man, so he called me to get out of the blog world for a time. Now, thirteen months later, I've learned a few more lessons (Namely, that I don't care if I have the most well-read blog out there) and the Lord has allowed me to come back. Far too often, we do the "good" but we then have no room for the "best". Like you said, we have to always remember to do God's priorities, not ours.
ReplyDeleteMake sense? Anyhow, thanks for visiting my blog. May your day be abundantly blessed.
In Christ,
Patti