Daily Devotional for August 24th

Trials and Freewill

A friend of mine is facing a tough decision ahead – he needs a drastic treatment to release himself from a persistent and overwhelming financial burden. He is a free man and definitely nobody can rob him of his freewill. However, mature adults as we are know pretty well the dilemma facing such significant and vital decisions in life. What matter are usually not the facts but our emotion and perception.

It is a human nature to seek security and safety as well as to avoid uncertainty. However, it is more often than not that we tend to over protect ourselves with such inclination. As a result, we might end up entangled and become estranged with unjustifiable details and worries in our decision making process. Hence, we loss our orientation in the forest (of reality) while paying too much attention to minute details of a particular spot in it. Is this amazing to you? Let me testify with my and others' experiences known to me, we are biased towards over protection and disorientation unless we have been trained and coping with similar challenges before. Otherwise, it is only through God's grace and guidance that we could make right the first time when we are faced with a threatening and impending challenge.

The Apostle James is well aware of our weaknesses with his teaching (James 1:2-4) telling us to count it all joy when we meet various trials. He further states that for we know that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Brothers and sisters, do you agree with James? Proverb 15:33 tells us the fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility goes before honor. It goes further (16:2-3) to state that all the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. Thus, our plans will be established by committing our work to the LORD. An important illumination from the foregoing teachings leads us to understand that trials, humility, trust and commitment in the Lord are essential to set us free from our fleshy and sinful bondages.

Dear brothers and sisters, let's encourage one another to commit ourselves during the trials of life to the promises and teaching of God the Father if you were facing an imminent challenge. Let's also experience how true it is that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!