Random Devotional 2: Being Humbled

Originally Posted: April 6, 2006 (Age 17)

A friend of mine recently posted a bulletin about being humbled because she got accepted into a different college than her top choice. Or something like that. I reflected on how God sometimes likes to humble us simply by screwing up our plans. Like a little nudge every now and then in case we forget that we’re not in control of our own lives.

I said I’d never work at McDonald’s. I’ll stop by to pick up a paycheck tomorrow morning. I said I’d never go to Lindenwood University. I will be registering for classes there tomorrow. Now all I have to do is declare that I’m never going to date some girl and I’ve got myself a wife.

Alright, so God likes to make things happen the way we don’t want them to sometimes. But that’s not always a bad thing. McDonald’s hasn’t been a bad job. And I’m really looking forward to starting college at Lindenwood this fall.

So, next time you get upset that things don’t go your way, try to think of it as God just trying to remind you that he’s the one in control, and that you’ll end up better off for it.

Random Devotional 1: Slaves and Desires

Originally Posted: March 19, 2006 (Age 17)

I’m going to start posting random devotionals about what God’s doing in my life or what’s on my heart. Maybe it will even be used to speak to you. The first one is a result of a song I was listening to in my car and thoughts I had upon waking up this morning.

There is a line in Switchfoot’s song “Lonely Nation” that says, “We are slaves of what we want.” There are many things that we want. Money. Toys. Gadgets. Video games are a favorite topic for teachers and youth pastors. But our desires transcend material things. We want attention. Acceptance. Love.

There is nothing wrong with these desires. I desire them myself. It only becomes a problem when we begin to make decisions based only on these desires. We do things because we want to do them, or because we want something or someone, without caring about God or others think. Our desires control us. When we can no longer say “no” if saying “no” will separate us from our desire ~ that is when we have become “slaves of what we want.”

Matthew 6:24 says “No man can serve two masters.” If we are serving our desires, we are not serving God. Life is not just about having fun and being funny, and doing whatever we feel like doing. Life is not about us!

We need to continually remind ourselves to seek the happiness of others before our own. We need to continually remind ourselves that God’s purposes are more important than our own. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) And when we remember to put God first, he will end up giving us the things that we need, and often the things that we want, too.

Like it or not, we have to be slaves of something. If you try to be your own master, you will be a slave of your desires. Considering the options, I would much rather be a slave of God.