Proverbs 21:2-3
We may think we are doing the right thing, but the LORD always knows what is in our hearts. Doing what is right and fair pleases the LORD more than an offering.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Recently, I heard Paige, a young girl who belongs to our church, tell about a really hard decision she had to make. Last summer, she was offered the chance to go on a mission trip to Costa Rica, and she was thrilled to be invited. Paige had realized that God was calling her to serve in missions after she heard a missionary to Africa speak. So when she was offered the chance to go to Costa Rica, she knew that this was a huge opportunity. The problem was… this trip was scheduled for the same week as her cheer camp in Florida.
Paige went to her cheerleading sponsor and asked if she could possibly be excused from the camp… and she explained why. The sponsor said she was sorry, but there could be no exceptions. If she let one cheerleader miss, it wouldn’t be fair to the other team members. So Paige had to make a choice… a very hard one. She prayed hard about this, and in the end, she went to Costa Rica. She said it was one of the hardest decisions she ever made… but also one of the best. Paige discovered people in Costa Rica with real needs… and amazing hardships. She realized that her ministry in God’s name had meant something to the people she encountered – for that week, and for a long time afterward.
Sometimes doing the right thing and making the right choice is really hard. I am not sure that I could have made the choice Paige made the summer before my senior year. I’m not sure I always make the right choices even now. But I know that sometimes my heart tells me to choose one way… and God tells me to choose another. When there is something I really want to do that is different from what God wants, I usually know it.
Sometimes I want to sleep in when God wants me to get up and get going. Sometimes I want to tell someone “No” when they ask for help… when clearly God wants me to lend them a hand. Sometimes I want to spout off and say something mean or unkind to someone to make my point… and I know God wants me to bite my tongue and take the high road.
I don’t know what your heart is pulling at you to say or do that doesn’t line up with what is right in God’s eyes. But I know that He can help you to make the correct choice… and just like Paige, you will never regret it. Yes, sometimes our hard decisions seem to “cost” us something… just like Paige’s choice cost her cheer camp and more. But God will make up any “cost” you may feel you have paid in rewards and blessings. All you have to do is ask Him to help you do the right thing. This requires courage and faith in God to see you through… do you have what it takes?
©2011 Debbie Robus
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