“Trust in the LORDwith all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct [make smooth or straight] your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Confirmation or Conviction
Do you ever have those moments when you know the Lord has been speaking to you, has given you opportunity to be obedient in an area, and then speaks to you through a message at church which is either confirmation that you heard Him correctly and did the right thing, or conviction because you didn’t?
I have multiple times….more often than not, it’s confirmation. This morning, however, it was conviction, done lovingly by my Abba Father, but conviction nonetheless.
He’s been calling me to wait and let Him take care of a couple of situations in my youngest child’s life by trusting He knows best and He is working even in these situations for their good. I haven’t heeded His voice and have scurried around in a frantic way trying to solve it on my own. He gently reminded me this morning in conversation with my husband before we ever left the house, “My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). And then as Pastor Bryan said from 2 Chronicles 16:9a, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him….”
When I run around trying to fix something that He’s telling me to stand down from and wait on Him, my heart is not loyal to Him. He’s already told me He wants to fight these battles. He desires to show Himself strong in these situations, and I’m standing in His way. The conviction brought me to my knees in tears. What am I showing my child? What am I showing the people I’m interacting with? Am I showing I trust in God, or myself? I know from, trusting in myself doesn’t work too well. Why do I think it’ll work in these situations? Foolishness….
Confirmation, or conviction? We get to choose which one we will get from the Lord when He’s given us direction. Our obedience is precious to Him. He doesn’t love us any more or less if we are obedient, but as a just God He can bless us more when we are. There are multiple opportunities ahead for me to choose whether or not to wait on Him or rush ahead by myself in these situations. I pray I’ll be obedient ,and the next time I hear from the Lord, it’ll be a word of confirmation that I did the right thing.
Father God, I know You would rather give us confirmation for our times of obedience. Thank You for Your conviction when we disobey. I’m so grateful that Your love isn’t dependent on which one we choose, but please help us trust You and let You direct our paths. Amen.
Amen!!
Thanks so much for sharing! Amen!
Good word. I need to copy this to paper and put it on a stand on my desk to refer to often. Thank you.