DEVOTION- The Real Deal
When authenticity = less free will
My husband and I went on a fancy dinner date last week to an authentic Italian restaurant. All of the ingredients are imported from Italy, the bread and pasta are made daily in house, and the tomatoes used in the sauce are grown in the volcanic ash at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. This place is the real deal!
Ordering from the menu involved a lot of explanation from the waitress.
“This pizza doesn’t have cheese, but don’t ask him to add any. He says it’s perfection as it is.”
“The only coffee we have is espresso and there is no cream. At all.”
“Do not ask to add chicken to the pasta. That’s not Italian, and we only serve it authentically.”
I’m sure many customers find these limitations frustrating when they can’t have what they want in a certain way. We found it freeing! We could order with confidence knowing that each dish was created with such intentionality that it would be the absolute best just as it was intended.
We were right. The food was divine! We have never been to Italy, and this chef knew better than we did.
The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Psalm 37:23, NLT
A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?
Proverbs 20:24, NLT
We run into the same limitations when we follow God. We have free will and we want to exercise it by choosing our own way, but God has other plans. The path He points us on is often not the one we would design for ourselves.
“Don’t say yes to this opportunity. I have other plans.”
“Being dishonest would be easy in this situation, but that isn’t my way.”
“That is a distraction and we won’t have it in your life.”
We question His intentions, His goodness, and His attentiveness. We fight Him with every step and insist our way is right. This is not only a lack of faith, but pride. We think we know better than God does.
In the same way that I have never been to Italy, we have never been to heaven. If God is preparing our hearts to be with Him there for eternity, He knows the best path for that development. God not only oversees every detail in our lives, but He delights over them. He is leading us with incredible intentionality through every moment, and we can have confidence to follow Him in His best for us.
Even when His best looks very different from what we had in mind, we can trust His love.
Father, thank you for your incredible provision and the way you delight over every detail of my life. When I start to wrestle for control or think that my way is better, help me to surrender, knowing that you love me beyond comprehension.
When God directs me, do I react with frustration or faithfulness?
What Motherhood Taught Me About Letting Go
When I was pregnant for the first time, I had a singular goal—to give birth without an epidural. I had learned about potential health benefits for mom and baby with unmedicated childbirth, but I’ll be honest, those weren’t the primary motivators to choose this method of birth. The truth is, I have control issues, and allowing anything to take away my power of command was inconceivable to me…
Read the rest of the story on the God Hears Her blog.
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See you next week. God Bless!
Erin Greneaux
Thank you Erin