As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
For who is God, except the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
Psalms 18:30-32
“Mom! its not working!” “Guys, how are you doing it?” As my boys proceed to tell me how they are using the way they devised (I don’t even know how they came up with this method), I chuckle to myself, knowing that it wouldn’t work, and knowing that this was going to happen. They weren’t going to do it the way I suggested they do it because I have given birth to the most independent and stubborn boys in the world. Who knew that lining books back into a bookshelf could be so difficult?
This isn’t new, all three of my children have the “I’m going to try it my way first,” mentality when they set out to accomplish tasks. Many times the end result is less than what we all hoped for. Similar situations are seen in the daily lives of most parents, even our Heavenly Father. His children are stubborn, we like to try it our way. He tells us or shows how to do something and we turn around and do it how we see fit, and the outcome is always less than we hoped for.
Though my ways are far from perfect, my boys have learned that they may work better. But His ways are perfect, and when we follow His ways, He will shield us from the unpleasant side effects of trying our own ways first. Thankfully God is forgiving, and we get do-overs. He gives us chance after chance to do it His way. Time after time, He has shown me that His Word is proven. Time and time again He has been my Shield, my Strength, and my Rock. He has done so even when I tried my way first…when I didn’t trust Him as I should have. He was waiting for me, His arms outstretched, ready to show that His words rang true.
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Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, You know better than we do that we don’t always do things Your way, yet You love us regardless. We fight, we argue, we do things how we want to. But You are always there, arms outstretched. Always our Shield, always our Rock, always our Strength. Thank You. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.