Trust

Friends, sometimes directions can get the best of us. Be it trying to find a destination, build a creative project, or bake a new recipe – directions come in handy because they tell us the best way to perform the tasks ahead to get the desired results we are hoping for. Some directions we may not understand until we get to the middle or end of a project and then we realize why they said to do a certain thing (and if you are like me, sometimes you have to pull it all apart and start over the “right way”). What’s true in the natural is even more true in the spiritual. Every instruction, correction, direction, or command we read in the Bible we may not understand, but one thing we can always understand is, that God knows what He is doing. He knows how to get the end results we desire. Our job today and every day is to just “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5, 6). God knows what He’s doing in your life.

~Word for Life Says

Morning Verse | The Head and Not the Tail

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒:

“And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them.” Deuteronomy 28:13

Wisdom’s Ways | Words to Live By

They say 10,000 steps a day helps to promote a healthier you. How healthier would our inner man be if our daily steps, our daily living, were marked by wisdom’s ways?

“My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤; 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐮𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞.” Proverbs 4:10-12, NLT

“Just Live It!”

“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Genesis 5:24

There are lives you read about or discover through other means that just make you wonder a little about how they did what they did.  Heroic tales of one coming through horrible circumstances with a story of deliverance for all ages.  Another’s strength and fortitude to carry on despite physical or challenging circumstances and more.  And still many others, in varied scenarios, whose biographies you read and stories you study, and you wonder what I can glean from that life, if anything, to steer me in my life’s journey.

But then, you have stories such as Enoch where you are not given many details to go by.  You know his story is special.  You know it’s significant.  And you are even given the reason why his story stands out.  But you are not given the how – how, what are the details?

There are just a few verses dedicated to this life without much information beyond the basic information of life and lineage being supplied.  But the most significant thing we do know about him is, “Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him,” Genesis 5:24.

Hebrews 11:5 gives us another window to peer through, but with the same ending we found in Genesis: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”  And other than a recorded prophecy in Jude, this is all that we know about him – but may I submit, it’s enough.

Humanity wants to know the details.   The human way of thinking wants to know how exactly he “walked with God” to experience such a miracle.  How exactly did he please God for God to just translate him from this life?

There is no checklist given.  There is no list of do’s and do not’s according to Enoch to follow to replicate his experience.

I, personally, am glad for the silence of the missing particulars.  For what they tell us is to just live it!  Live this life in faith and stop looking for a formula to follow.  Live this life in constant communion with God.  Live that the steps we take and the decisions we make may be pleasing in the eyes of our heavenly Father as well.

We don’t need to know the specifics of what Enoch did to try to gain our own “translation” moment.  All we need to know is what God has called each of us to.  What obedience and heart of devotion laid out in Scripture He asks us to live by.

If we had needed additional information on the hows and whys of Enoch’s moment in history, I believe that God would have made sure it was written in these holy pages.  Rather, I believe we are called to just live it – have a made-up mind to live for God for ourselves.  Watch our walk.  Ask, are my steps pleasing to the Father, and if not, how do I realign them?

The life of the faithful has numerous rewards promised to us in the Bible, such as:

“So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.”Psalm 58:11

A faithful man shall abound with blessings…”Proverbs 28:20

“I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”Jeremiah 17:10

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much…”Luke 16:10

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”Matthew 25:21

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”1 Corinthians 15:58

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”Colossians 3:23, 24

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”Revelation 22:12

But may our love focus our hearts on the God who has redeemed us, and let that flame of devotion burn deeply within.  Let it guide us to desire nothing short of, “I want to put a smile on the face of my heavenly Father.”

We may not experience a translation moment due to it, but a life of faithfulness will bring us into fellowship with God and in His presence forevermore (Psalm 16:11). 

My friend set not your heart on the details.  Set your heart on just living it.  That is what we glean from the life of Enoch, and leave the results and rewards to God.  What we don’t know about his life doesn’t matter as much as what we do know.  And what we do know is all of us, regarding our walk with God, are called to walk it out by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

“Order my steps in thy word…” Psalm 119:133

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

Text Free Image by StockSnap from Pixabay