Devotion 7.27.16

I was an administrator about 26 of my 31 years in education, and to this day, I wonder if that was the correct career choice.  It's a bit late now, but administration stressed me to a high degree.  Some people thrived on the pressure, almost like these adrenaline junkies might who wear those winged suits and jump from a mountain top and glide at unbelievable speeds until they open the parachute in the valley of the mountain range.

Me?  I wanted to advance and work to create a better organization, but unfortunately I thought everyone else would want the same thing.  I'm not even talking about change.  I'm talking simply working to make the school a great place for kids to learn, and surely, I thought, we would all agree on that, wouldn't we?  When conflict arose, it would consume my thoughts for days as I examined as many facets of the situation as time would allow.  When to act and when to hold your cards close?  Some seemed to work best in that situation.  I did not.

I wonder, often, as I reflect on those times as to why I did not use prayer as a constant resource?  Go to God, talk to him for awhile, ask for his guidance and wisdom and read his Word to see where an answer might lie.  One place in his Word I would now turn to often would be Psalms because despite what calamity I might feel is before me, David had it worse.  You can tell, however, that he uses each psalm as a prayer to God for deliverance, from himself, his enemies, from the trial he faces, and as a thanksgiving to God for the blessings he has been given.  Psalm 1 sets the tone for the entire book when it says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, not sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither." (1 - 3)

Who do I listen to?  The ways of this world or to God's Word?  Who do I turn to?  To Christ and the Holy Spirit to hear me, shape my words, and to give me strength or to man and our feeble ways?

Take some time today to explore a psalm.  The study bible should have it divided by themes at the beginning of the book.  Psalm 1 can be a start if you so choose.  Use the psalm you choose as the foundation to a prayer.  We pray we become those trees planted by streams of water that yield fruit.

Hope Men's Ministry