Tammy On Tuesday – “It’s Up To You.”

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PINIMAGENot long ago, while sitting in church, my friend pulled out a pack of gum and offered some to me.   As I opened the flap I noticed there were actually two flavors to choose from, both in the same pack!

I thought to myself…”What will they think of next?”

On the inside of the flap I read the words, “It’s up to you.”

As I closed the pack and handed it back, I pondered the phrase, “It’s up to you.”

 “It’s up to you.”

I began to think about my life and how, the longer I live, I am leaving less up to me and giving more to God.  Why?  Because I’m learning I can’t trust myself to make the right choices all the time.  I can’t trust my feelings.  My desires are most beneficial to me when they are surrendered to God FIRST and He is able to conform them to His desires.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In ALL of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.”

Psalms 32:8  The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you.”

1 Corinthians 1:25  “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Proverbs 2:6-15

6. For the Lord grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8. He guards the paths of the just
and protects those who are faithful to him.
9. Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
and you will find the right way to go.
For wisdom will enter your heart,and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Wise choices will watch over you.
Understanding will keep you safe.
12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,
from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way
to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong,
and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked,
and their ways are wrong.

I have begun a daily habit, (which I have by no means perfected) of taking my desires to God and asking Him to align my heart, my mind and my choices with His.  As I have begun to be more aware of the need to seek Him “in all my ways”, I see more and more how my previous mode of operation was not only hindering God’s work in and through me, but it was leaving me to my own devices as I live day-to-day in this world.  A dangerous place to be!  I mean, lets be honest, our feelings often betray us.

My greatest enemy in this endeavor to let God lead seems to be myself.  With the knowledge that God’s ways are perfect and His desire is to show me how to live, it would seem unlikely that I would choose anything else.  But my flesh creeps in and when I struggle, it’s because I’ve allowed my feelings and desires to have authority over what God tells me in His Word.

I’ll give you an example of this struggle.  Just after Christmas a few years ago, as we began to pack away the Christmas lights and decorations, I felt an emptiness growing inside of me.  I felt a longing for Christmas to continue on.  It seemed the only remedy was to go out and buy a kitchen table and chairs…

I hear you…you’re saying, “What?”   

Well, I felt at the time the only way to fulfill this desire in me was to go and purchase something that would be new and exciting.

The only thing that I felt was close to need of being replaced was our kitchen table.  Granted, the one we had still had quite a bit of life in it.  However, I convinced myself we must do this and I made the choice to go and buy one.  All along, as the thoughts began to swirl in my head, conviction, like a heavy brick, weighed in my spirit.  This isn’t right.  Only God can fill you up.  Take your emptiness and longings to God.  He will set you right! 

Did I listen?  No.  Did I regret it?  YES!

I put the final chair in place at my new kitchen table and assessed my feelings once again.   “So, I’ve got a new kitchen table and the same nagging void.”  And by the way, the table didn’t hold up very long.  The chairs became rickety.  The table showed scratches almost immediately.  And I was grieved each time I looked at it.  Not just because it wasn’t holding up well, but because it represented a choice to follow my feelings and desires over God’s truth.

I have sat with so many women who shared with me either a trial they are struggling through or a decision they are contemplating and they’ve begun their sentence with, “I feel like what I really want is…what I really need to do is…”  I realized that many of us, myself included, fall into the trap of being ruled by our feelings instead of God’s wonderful plan for us laid out in the truth of His Word.

Just this week, I have been working through a Bible study which talks about how even Christ dealt with human emotion but was not led by his feelings.  For instance, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus faced the inevitability of the cross, he prayed to the Father and said, if it be Your will, let this cup pass from me.  He knew what he would endure and I’m sure he may have felt overwhelmed as the time grew closer.  But he finishes his prayer, “Not my will but Thine be done.”  (Luke 22:42)

Could you imagine if Christ prayed in the garden that day, “Father, I know you sent me as part of your plan for redemption.  I know that You sent me to die as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of men, but today I am feeling so much anguish and distress, that I’m wondering if perhaps this wasn’t Your idea after all.  Wouldn’t I feel okay, no matter what, if this was really the right thing to do?”  I feel like You may be leading me down another path.  Perhaps You’ve devised another plan to save the world.  I feel so much better about that idea. I make that my choice.”

Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?  We know that Christ committed his feelings and desires, his thoughts and actions to the will of his Father.  And because of that, we can have eternal life and a road back to God.

John 6:38  “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”

John 5:30  ‘I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.”

Fighting the control of my desires and feelings is not easy.  And I am thankful that it’s not just up to me to muster the strength to overcome my feelings and fleshly desires.  If it were, I would fail time and time again.  But, as I commit my heart and life to God daily, I can trust Him by His grace to give me the desires that please Him.  I’m reminded of this promise through one of my favorite verses…

Phil 2:13 says,  “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”

I hope as you consider the words of today’s post you’ll begin to say when choices arise, “It’s NOT up to me…it’s up to Him.”