Nice day today.  Celinda is finding the joys, and work, of canning fresh produce.  Late night yesterday and early morning today to get it all done; it is work, but gratifying.  AND to a large degree, fun.

Josh and Deed came up and replaced the garden faucets for us, Steven dug the holes and is learning about plumbing.  CeeCee is finding all her toys, the house outside, the fruit sitting on the floor getting ready and having a lot of fun.  She is growing, much too fast!

Well, everybody has left and it is just Carla, Blaze and I – and the cats, of course.  We will just be sitting back and watching some games for the rest of the day.  

Mathew 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

I know this was in response to God providing worldly needs, but it is also true in our decision making processes.

I always think I have to do it.  It is up to me.  The old saying of “if something is going to get done, who does it?  If not me, who then?”  Almost seems to be my mantra; often without realizing it.

I understand delegating, I can do that, but it is hard for me to release control to someone else.  I am doing a tad better, because there are a number of things I can no longer do by myself.  When we delegate it is important to not only give the person(s) the responsibility to do the task, but the authority to get it done.  While the ultimate responsibility is always on the person who is in charge, the person getting the job done has to have the ability to make decisions.  We must let go, we must trust the person to do the job correctly.

Relinquishing control; necessary, but not easy.  I am not the only one who has trouble with that; that doesn’t make it ‘okay’ for me, it is just a comment acknowledging I am not alone.  Everyone does to a degree.  However, if we are going to get closer to God; if we are going to be an effective servant for Him, then we must relinquish our lives, our desires to Him.

In effect we are delegating our decision to Him; and trusting Him to make the right ones and tell us what we must do.

We must allow Him to have complete control of our lives and not hold anything back.  I have to admit that is one of my most difficult things to do as I walk with Him.  How do we do that?

Do we ask Him about every decision we make, we make hundreds if not thousands a day (at least those of you that are still in the work place.)  How do we differentiate between trust in Him and trust that decisions we make, without consulting Him, are appropriate?

Where do we draw the line, if indeed we should draw a line?  We can become paralyzed if we are not careful and become indecisive and of no use to anyone.  God is interested in our lives and helping us to be successful in not only our spiritual lives but also in our family and work lives.

We know nothing is too big or too small in our lives for Him to be of interest in our lives – and He is willing to counsel and direct us.  But I wouldn’t think much of an employee who had to ask me every time they made a decision; especially when it comes to what they have been trained to do.   

They know what to do, how to do it, and are quite capable of making the right decision.  Yes, there are times that a task or situation requires them to touch bases, get advice or even get told what or how to do something.  And the boss, ‘usually’ is there to give that advice or command.

It is nice and comforting to have access to someone who really knows what needs to be done.  God knows, in every case.

There is a simple statement that I have to admit used to and still irritates me, “Let go, let God.”  As if it was as simple as that.  It is more than that; it is trusting in the God we know.

The only way we can know Him is to study His Word, be in communication with Him on a regular basis.  We have to allow Him to open up the darkest compartments of our heart and then allow Him to purge those things that are hidden from view – and often times from our own view and understanding.

It is recognizing that not only do we come with skills to serve Him, but we have baggage that defines much of who we are in this world.  The bias formed in our youth, things we have been taught by parents and in school – and indeed some of the things that we have been told in church.  We also have experiences that shape our response to what goes on in our lives, and not all of them are positive.

There are those who seem to be able to turn things over to God a lot easier than others – I am one of the others.

But as I grow closer to Him; studying His Word, spending time in meditation and prayer and just allowing Him to spend time with me – there is a difference, you know – I am finding that the need to relinquish control to Him is a bit easier.

Obviously we don’t have to ask Him about every single decision – and sometimes things are thrown at us where we don’t have a lot of time to make a decision.  We need to understand that He has given us an ability to learn from Him, it is simply applying what we have learned to the situation at hand.

The Holy Spirit can guide us on a continual basis, WHEN we are allowing Him to do so.  When we learn to listen to Him, that small tug He gives to us, that tells us that we are in dangerous territory and need to take more time before acting comes through ‘loudly.’ 

MOST of the time we have time before making a decision; we do not have to be in a hurry – although there are those that try to pressure us to do so, we don’t have to listen to them.  If there is a question whether it is something that will be pleasing to Him, then we definitely want to inquire of Him.

For most situations we know what should be done.  We know the difference between right and wrong; job well done versus a haphazard job; lazy versus good work ethic – being foolish and common sense (which isn’t as common as we would think.) 

There will always be times where we should automatically think, wait a minute – God what do YOU think.  Especially in major decisions; unfortunately there have been a ‘few’ times where I thought, hhmmm, shoulda checked with God.  And He says, yep, you should have.  I need to remember to ask Him first, not after I have already made the decision – and then have to ask Him to take care of it for me.

If we learn to place Him first, meeting with Him before our day becomes so hectic that we ‘don’t have time’ He will guide us even before we ask Him.  He will give us a heads up if we are leaning away from good decisions.

In our experiences and walking with Him we learn to just automatically touch bases with Him.  And it is important, very important; we need to remember putting Him first places everything else in its proper perspective.

Decisions are easier, the job is easier, and we will do things we never thought possible before.  In addition we won’t have to worry about offending Him, when we ask Him first.  

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again