Proverbs 1

Today I began a journey into discovering God's will for life. I will discover God's will for my life by reading a different portion of scripture each day. For the next 31 days I will be reading a different chapter of Proverbs and begin to share what I think is being said through God's word.

Proverbs 1 is a warning against following sinful people and ignoring wisdom. In this world there are people who seek to invite you into sinful activities in order to profit (ill-gotten gains), but the path of those people leads to destruction. If people invite you onto their evil path, do not go with them. For the most part, people know right from wrong, even a small child knows he can't take his friend's toys or cause him harm, but occasionally an adult tries to justify their wrong behavior. This is where wisdom calls out, warning you to repent of your misdeeds and simple ways. Those who don't answer and accept wisdom's rebuke are led to disaster when calamity strikes like a storm. Crying out when calamity strikes, caused by our refusal to listen to wisdom, will not prevent us from experiencing the consequences of our actions. But everyone who listens to wisdom will live in safety.

When we were young, our parents directed our steps and directed us in the way we should go, but as we grew older we were able to direct our own paths using the wisdom we had learned. However, as adults we realized right and wrong wasn't always black and white like when we were children. We found ourselves being led astray and sometimes this meant we suffered consequences for our mistakes. The Bible says to watch our path, to not follow sinful people, and to heed wisdom's rebuke.

The decisions we make aren't always black and white, but with a little patience we can discern what is right and what is sinful, heeding wisdom's call, and not be led astray into calamity.

God's Will

Today has been confusing and put a lot of weight on my heart. I woke up with the intent of sharing good news and rejoicing together in my success. The joy was short lived when I was made to feel guilty about my success and circumstances outside my control. Everyone seems to miss when something is unfair to you and only remember when it is unfair to them. I just wanted to be happy that a 9 year burden had been lifted off of my chest and that new possibilities were on the horizon. Instead I felt guilty for my success. 

It didn't help that I was already feeling down because circumstances prevented me from enjoying a favorite event of my youth. There were so many photos from today and I was filled with a longing to be present, but I knew I couldn't be. Yesterday was an eye opener and I need to be responsible for my feelings. Going to the event would have been inviting trouble for myself. I know it would open me up to feeling those feelings again and I don't want to go back to that dark space of anger.

I though about my feelings a lot today and couldn't align what I was feeling with God's direction for how to live our lives. It was confusing. I thought again about being a stubborn child who refuses to hear "no" and won't let go. My heart weighed heavy in my chest. I didn't know how to make sense of any of it. Then I tuned into a sermon on God's Will. It was the first sermon in the series and the focus was how you won't hear God's will: you won't hear God's will in your feelings, in the advice given you, in your culture, or in your circumstances. 

While the pastor repeated "God's will," I think it is important to make the distinction between how God wants us to live and how the things that happen (the good, the bad, the mistakes, the accidents, etc.) work together for our good. The Bible provides instructions on how we are suppose to live while everything working together for our good is one of God's truths that we live out. His will would be the Bible and His plans how everything works out. I think it is time I turn my focus to His will.