Wednesday, January 13, 2010

It’s a Choice

It’s been very cold here recently, where negative numbers to double digits have become a common thing.  My old green car, which has ran well for quite some time, spurted and sputtered as I turned the key in the ignition on Sunday morning. Reaching for the knob to turn on the heat of the defroster, I moved the knob from low to high and waited to hear the sound of the air being pushed out.  Nothing.  I checked all the knobs one more time.  Still, nothing.  I took a deep sigh, “God, why now?  You know I was really hoping that this car would last till spring.” 
Then, it dawned on me – I was making a choice.  I was choosing the attitude and approach towards what had happened.  And, my initial choice was a pretty poor one.  God has shown me over and over that he is faithful to provide my needs and yet, I still struggle with making the trust and acceptance my initial thought. 
It takes courage to leave these things to God, courage in a very human way.  Others may see us as flighty, irresponsible, not understanding why we aren’t bent out of shape.  I’m not saying that it’s not serious to have a working defroster in double digit negative weather.  It is.  But, as I caught myself, I thought about how I had prayed God would provide the perfect car for me exactly when I needed it.  Maybe the car was getting close and almost ready!  I was getting excited to see how God was going to answer this prayer.  I made a choice to trust.
King David made a choice as well.  He had the eyes of the entire nation on him, not to mention neighboring rulers.  If he did something which the people thought as odd, you can believe that someone mentioned it down at the local gathering place.  God gave David a promise and David made a choice.  God had been faithful to David over and over and in return David wanted to give God a temple, a special place to be worshipped.  But, even before the building plans could start in serious construction mode, a prophet received word that it was David’s son that was to build this building, not David.  David had a choice.  He could fuss and fume, that this privilege was not supposed to be his, that somebody else would get the credit.  After all, it was his idea wasn’t it?  However, David responded with a prayer, saying … ““O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer.  O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.  Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever," (2 Samuel 7:27-29). 
David chose well, he chose to accept God’s will and became excited about how God would fulfill his promises.  I’m going to keep practicing making good choices.  How about you?

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