No more rehearsing

 Do you ever rehearse what you're going to say before you have an important conversation pending over your head? I not only rehearse it in my mind, but I write it down so I can read it over and over and over again...the scripted words are a feeble attempt at infusing confidence in a heart that doesn't know any better.  

I read today in my devotional that, projecting ourselves into the future, "rehearsing what you will do or say" is seeking self-sufficiency.  In other words, my attempts at controlling what's ahead is trying to be adequate without the Lord's help. This is a "subtle sin" of which I am plenty guilty of.

The alternative, according to my devotional, is to live fully in the present, depending on the Lord each moment.  Don't divide life into things that I can handle on my own and things that require God's help either...In the big things as well as in the small ones: always seek Him first, and rest in His power.  My confidence comes from knowing He is in me and trusting that He will take care of me.

Easier said than done? You bet!  But that is the state of mind that we need to strive for.  We might not always succeed.  But we must not give up trying.  Peace comes when we allow Him to flow through us.

Of course, it's important to do our part and be prepared.  But, in our preparations, let's not forget to place it all at the foot of the cross, and allow the Holy Spirit to be the One empowering us to speak and act.  After all, there's no way we can anticipate every detail of how the events in the future are going to unfold.  There is no way we can foresee how conversations are going to go, word by word.  It's impossible to be certain how the other persons involved are going to react...or even how we are going to feel like.  The future doesn't belong to us.  That is part of the divine realm.  Let's not try to force our way in there.  I don't know about you, but every time I try...I crash and burn.

Instead, let's just put our efforts into what Psalm 37: 3-7 says:

Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.


Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.


Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

In the Precious Name of Jesus.  Amen!