Misplaced Priorities

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

Have you ever stepped away from the will of God for just a moment to make a decision? Not taking time to kneel at His feet and ask what the right and true answer is to your question or dilemma? I have many times. We sometimes get lost in our own humanity and make decisions based on our own knee jerk reactions or what we believe to be right based on how we "feel about it." God wants us to look to Him for our every need. When we choose to live without Him, He will become silent until we return to Him with humility for redemption. Job says "for I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me." (7:3) The Lord will sometimes test us by not revealing himself to us in a situation. David cried out "O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still." (Psalm 83:1) Even the man "after God's own heart" made mistakes and asked God to continue to reveal himself. Nothing could have been more painful for David than for God to remove His presence from his every move. We should feel the same way today, but over time sin has degraded our relationship to the Lord, and Satan has weaved himself into the very fabric of society and our beings.

When we trust in our own intuition and knowledge, we will often make mistakes that affect not only us but the people around us. What we know to be true is worthless because of our humanity and sometimes misguided priorities. "Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return." (Job 15:31) Satan is counting on us trusting in our own knowledge and priorities. That is the way that he can get into our heads to cause strife in our lives and we will become our own worst enemy. When the first negative thought or deed comes into your heart or mind and you feel the conviction of the Lord, humble yourself quickly so that you will not fall prey to the Devil and your decisions and reactions begin to spiral out of control. James says "humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up." (4:10) We cannot lift ourselves up, only God can do that. Trusting in ourselves is like eating, never to be full-our desire to be ruler of our own lives will result in travesty and separation from God. "You will eat and not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty." (Micah 6:14)

When Abram and Lot decided to divide the land and each go to his own part, Lot chose the fertile land that appeared to be the best choice. Abram relented and allowed him to have it while he took the rocky slopes of Canaan. But what we see as a perfectly clear and right choice made outside of the will of God will often result in travesty just the same. "Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like the smoke from a furnace." (Genesis 19:27-28) Ultimately Lot's decision to go for the obvious choice ended in travesty and destruction. Abraham's choice to follow God and allow Lot to take the fertile land was rewarded even though it seemed unfortunate at the time. So may we never take our lives for granted and become ruler of our own little universe. Only God can give us what is good and right and we must constantly remember that our wayward decisions that appear to be without fault will often result in destruction and heartache for us and our brothers and sisters around us.