When you choose one direction you always want to believe that your choice is the best. Real life often contradicts your hope; bad things happen to good people, cheaters often win, and liars get ahead! When there is a run of events all on one side, even the most stalwart’s confidence begins to waiver.
Almost like the weather is on queue, fall is here. The wind is blowing cold from the north, overcast skies dominate, and one wakes up to wet ground with the threat of even more rain. The pause all of us take on a morning like this brings a question of the future, if only today. Where am I going? Why am I going there? What is going to happen when I arrive? Do the good guys win and bad guys lose?
The papers document politicians getting ahead on yesterday’s twisted stories and lies. The pundits talk of new beginnings, yet it appears that greed is forever being recycled. Wars abound, yet it is the families at war that cause the most pause. What events trigger a father or mother taking the lives of their children and spouse?
God never said that the wicked do not win in the short term. He did state two facts; revenge is His, and that “wicked ambition ends in angry frustration.” (Proverbs 11.23) Does it help knowing that the wicked live today without peace?
For me, experiencing God’s peace while knowing all the while that this is a direct result of my pursuit of God validates God’s word. On the flipside; when my self-center ambition takes over my life, the resulting frustration and unquenchable thirst that comes confirms God’s word yet again.
Having confidence, complete and real confidence in God is, for many, illusive. It is not like those who have confidence do not also carry fears, uncertainties, and doubts. We do! The question is what do we do with them. My advice? Take everything, good, bad, and ugly to God in open honesty. Give God permission to share your ambitions based on your experience with Him.
