Becky's Daily Devotions

Good Morning Isaiah 48: 17 & 18: “This is what the Lord says- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands; your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like a wave of the sea”. As I read that verse, I can hear my parents (like it was yesterday) saying, “If only you had listened to me in the first place, you would have avoided all this”.

A while back I was asked that if God loves us so much, why does He leave “free choice” up to us?

As parents, we protect our children to keep calamity and harm from befalling them. This woman who posed the question expressed how she would do everything in her power to protect her children and to keep bad things from happening to them. She didn't understand why does God not do the same for His children? And why so much pain and heartache? Why not protection from that as well, like any good parent would do!

This question has not left my mind and I have yet to answer her. I know the answer, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to say. And then I remembered the very beginning of the Story: the Garden of Eden! Adam and Eve were given everything in the garden they could possibly want, except they were commanded not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

God was very clear with them: you touch it and you are punished! Those were the rules, the direction from God, their Heavenly Father. A clear direction on what they should and should not be doing and yet BAM! "What will one little bite do to hurt us?" Well that one bite affects our lives still today! Sin was born and Satan has been trying to bring us down ever since. Up until Jesus and the cross, we were believers, but with no hope. Jesus came to bring us new life! But that new life has consequences as well! God is a loving parent. You do what He says and live as you ought to and you will experience great peace and incredible JOY. Even in the midst of pain and hardship, you will know that God is there to direct your path. You are never alone. Free choice is given to us.

As it is to our children, whether we want them to have it or not, and they take it! We cannot be everywhere for our children and things will happen that are beyond our control, no matter how good a parent we are.

Things happen in life to each of us, but if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, then you have opened the door for your Heavenly Father to come in and instruct you, to give you insight in your life and how you are to live. You have the opportunity to ask him for guidance and listen to His answer for your life.

I encourage you to spend some time with your Heavenly Father today and listen for His voice in your life. Yes, the world will come in and try to point you in a million directions, but God has the plan and He is just waiting for you to listen to it!

Day | 179