Only His Way

“Only His Way”
By Zach Wood
Proverbs 16:25

 

As I’ve studied some of the Proverbs for my sermons and also for personal devotional times, this passage has always stuck out to me.  Why?  Because I see myself practicing this problem daily.  It’s not that I intentionally try to go my own way.  I don’t start my prayer time with God each day and say, “Okay Lord, I’m gonna do my own thing, so step out of the way, please!” 

 

We would probably think that ridiculous to pray like that and tell God we’re gonna live life the way we want to.  I think we would all truly desire to live the way God wants us to live.  However, we are human flesh and we fall to temptations every single day.  I know my day is full of temptations.  I have temptations to divert my attention away from work that needs to be done each day. I have temptations to focus my attention on things other than family when they need me.

 

There’s not one of us who doesn’t struggle each day with being distracted.  If we didn’t deal with distractions and temptations, we wouldn’t be human. 

 

I think my problem is that I have ideas and ways that I think will go well and, many times, I don’t ask God for His direction and I just go about my merry little way.  I look at something or a situation and ideas start running through my mind.  Sometimes, I don’t see things in a clear way and I just think I do.  I want to do my own thing and go my own way as I see fit.  In a way, I’m telling God, “Alright, Lord, I got this one!  I’ll consult You on the next round!” 

 

We would be very wise to heed God’s direction in everything we do. This proverb is important for us to take notice of.  There is a way that seems right to us, but we must be wise and go to God and allow Him to lead our way, even if our way seems right.  We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We desperately need His way to be shown to us, not our own way. 

 

Only through His way will we really succeed.  Through our own ways and understanding, we could very well eventually be led to our own death.  We would be wise to heed His direction.  A lot of ways “seem” right to us, but God sees the bigger picture.     

No Degree Required

“No Degree Required”
By Zach Wood
Acts 4:13

So often, we are told we need certain certifications in order to do a job.  Granted, you do need this and would be a great idea to have the proper certifications in order to do certain jobs that you apply for.  You definitely wouldn’t want me working on an aircraft because I don’t have that training.  And, you wouldn’t want me working underneath your car because I don’t have ASE certification either. 

It makes sense that in order to do certain jobs that we could apply for, we would need the proper schooling, education and training.  It just makes sense in order to do the job right.  Sometimes, this happens in our thought process when we are sharing the love of Christ and the Gospel to others.  We think we just need more education, more training and more preparation before we can really share His Word with others. 

This is not to say that bible college and seminary education is wrong by any means, but sometimes we rely way too much on book knowledge and don’t just ask God to give us the words and direction we need when sharing with others.  If we have Christ in our lives, we have the Holy Spirit and He will guide us and lead us in the way we need to go.  I really like here how Peter and John were both unschooled and very ordinary men who were on fire and passionate about spreading the Good News.  They didn’t have a college or seminary degree, they just had a love and passion for Jesus Christ.  Wow, how simplified that is!

Be assured that if you love Jesus Christ and are passionate about telling others about Him, the Holy Spirit will guide and lead you.  Rely always on His guidance, realizing that we not always need the proper training as we would in a normal job setting.  Let God use you and the Holy Spirit move through you.

To serve God and share the Gospel, there is no degree required, just a willingness to be used by Him.