Psalm 127:1-2 Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
Luke 9:23-26 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.
O: The Psalms passage points out that if we strive against God's will then it'll be useless, but if you are on the LORD's side, you'll ultimately succeed. The Luke passage points out that if we strive to achieve our selfish ends, ultimately we'll lose it all. But if we lose our lives for Jesus, we'll actually save it.
God's way is really the best way. Often, it's the best way even here on earth, but even if things don't turn out that great from a worldly perspective, like for the martyrs, ultimately, it's the best. The myriad saints in heaven can testify to that.
I've never regretted any decision I have made in good faith following Christ. Some of my decisions resulted in events that turned out differently from what I expected, but even in those "bad" cases, God has blessed me with the privilege of seeing a glimpse of why He put me through it. So I have in my own personal life really seen this come true already.
A: When I am tempted to not do something God's way, I need to remind myself that both scripture and experience has shown that His way is the best way. Live with no regrets!
P: Thank You, Father, for blessing me with being able to see in this life the reasons behind why You have let me go through various trials. Help me to remember that whenever I'm tempted to do things the world's way when it seems that it would be to my advantage. Help me to remember that ultimately, Your way is the best way!
Note: this is using the SOAP method. For more information, see this page (not written by me.)
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