Wrong Question
Theme of the Week: Where the Buck Really Stops
Friday, February 8, 2008
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: No wisdom, no insight, no plan … can succeed against the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord Proverbs 21:30-31 NIV). Bonus Reading: Psalm 73:1-2, 13-26
[Today's Key Bible Verses] have become a sort of North Star that I use to keep me on track. Whether I'm working on a small project, a large initiative, or my life mission, they've helped me to keep focused, and not to run away every time the weeds get deep, or puff up with self-important pride whenever success shows up.
Final outcomes are in the Lord's hands. It's his will that prevails. No wisdom, insight, or plan can thwart it, whether mine or my enemy's.
But these verses pointed out the one thing I could control and also, by inference, the one thing I'll be held responsible for: How well was I preparing my horse for battle?
It caused me to realize that during my apprehensive years
I was asking the wrong question. I asked, "How are things going?" I should have asked, "Am I doing the right things? Am I preparing my horse for victory?" What God wants for me is to simply focus my energy and efforts on the one and only thing I can control. That's the only thing he will hold me accountable for: How well have I prepared the horse for battle?
After that, I've learned, it's God's call—not mine.
—Larry Osborne in A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God
My Response: Am I taking too much credit for successes, too much blame for setbacks?
Thought to Apply: Man drives, but it is God who holds the reins.—Jewish proverb
Adapted from A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God (Multnomah, 2007) by permission.
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Deliver me, sovereign Lord, from attempting to manage You. Help me to honor You by trusting and submitting to Your control.
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