I have a choice

There is not a moment in the day that I don't have a choice to behave godly or worldly. The chances come moment by moment. This morning I initially failed - I was confronted with a situation and I decided to wallow in self pity - for about an hour. Did it make me feel better? No - actually I went down, down, down and felt like shutting down for the day. This is not healthy. This is not how God would have me react.

My joy and my strength are found in him. Not in my circumstances, not in my family, not in my own worth - IN CHRIST ALONE. So, thankfully, the Holy Spirit prodded my heart again and again - I was confronted again with a choice to get up - to rejoice IN THE LORD and be glad.

I think of a young girl who was in strange and scary circumstances. She was betrothed to be married and given the news by an angel that she was to give birth to God's son. She was a virgin and would give birth to a child that was not the child of her betrothed. Practices in those days were to stone women who had been unfaithful. Her circumstances were precarious at best and yet, though I am sure she was scared, she was unsure about the future - she made a choice -

Mary's Song
Luke 1
46 And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."

She trusted God and saw that he had blessed her. She chose to see the blessings in her circumstances and not the bad in them. She had faith that God would take care of her. She knew her value before the Lord. She remembered God's promises and stood firm on them.

That is the kind of woman I want to be.

I do believe the more we practice making choices based on our faith and not our own feelings that it becomes a habit. Our response to failure is not to give up but to keep practising our faith and see it worked out in our life. This is encouraging to me. I am being sanctified moment by moment. My choices to stand firm on the Word of God will cause me to be stronger and stronger in my faith. I will be more like Christ. I will begin to see him more in my decisions. This is what I want. I pray that I will remember that when confronted with these choices. And when I fail that I will not give up but make the right choice to take up the Cross that Christ has laid before me and to walk on.

Praise God for the ability to do so. Without him, I am truly lost.