Where do I Place My Faith?
I can choose what I want to do. I can purchase the vehicle or tractor I want. I can choose oatmeal for breakfast, or pancakes or even steak and eggs.Somewhere along the line though, I have to make the choice I know is right.
Deciding what is right is a process shaped by my childhood. I know that hard work is the only consistent way I can accomplish anything. The only way I can consistently work hard is to find ways to work smart. The smart part has been accumulated slowly after a lot of experimentation while I was working hard. When I look back at my personal history, I am thankful for all of it.
I think the best way to live life is to take responsibility for all I do, good or bad, and always be in control of my situation. My hands have been on the controls or held the reins. I have a lot of accumulated knowledge and experience and intend to use it. I do sometimes wonder if I could choose a different way.
In Vacation Bible School, we used to sing that we should “leave it in the hands of the Lord.” I have often asked God to take the reins of my life only to immediately take them back in my own hands. This resumption of control would take the form of planning or readying myself to take action prior to a conflict using my own abilities. I think most human plans are never used and only create anxiety in the period prior to their designed use.
When you spend today planning only for tomorrow you miss out on the present. The things you should actively engage with receive only a small portion of your attention and could just as well not have happened at all. Instead you plan for several imagined scenarios of what tomorrow will bring and most of them never occur. It’s a waste of time, it certainly isn’t working smart.
I guess it comes down to the choice of who is in control. I am amazed at the immediate change that occurs when I trust in my faith; situations that seem to be very difficult become quite easy. I think it’s hard for my ego to accept that which is unearned as I want the accomplishment to be all mine.
Walking by faith, instead of by sight, is like watching a tree on the horizon as a guide while you plant a field. If you keep your eye on the guide, everything just works itself out. If you keep looking back or trying to overcorrect for each mistake, your work becomes crooked. It’s like that in life, if I keep my eye on God, he just backfills my life in the way that is best for me.
Perhaps all of my accumulated knowledge isn’t just for me to use to handle each of life’s challenges. Maybe that accumulated knowledge is there so I can realize that my choices are not as satisfying as those I receive through faith.
Choice is a precious freedom however it is a great responsibility too. My freedom of choice has really boiled down to a few choices up to this time; Chevrolet trucks, an orange tractor and oatmeal for breakfast. The greatest choice is in who I place my faith.
