My daughter gave me the idea of which scripture to share with you in this week’s episode, and I can’t believe that after 178 episodes, I still haven’t featured the much-loved verses I’ll be reading today. Thank you, Sarah, for the inspiration! I know the verses by heart that provide the foundation for the truth we will declare together today.
My path has been anything but certain lately. I’m doing my best to lean on God rather than my own understanding—especially because I’m having a hard time understanding! I tend to joke about how I’m on a need-to-know basis with God and all too often he thinks I don’t need to know. Acknowledging God in all my ways is much easier when I have lots of reasons to give him praise. It’s harder to acknowledge that God is present and working in the midst of my difficulties, dead ends, and disappointments.
The other day I was riding along with my daughter to run some errands, which is much easier with two adults when you’ve got three little ones in tow. Sarah had pulled up a playlist of Disney soundtracks for her little princesses to listen to in the car. I wasn’t paying attention to the music while I tried to verbally process my difficulties, dead ends, and disappointments with my daughter. Suddenly, my oldest granddaughter—who will be 5 in August—declared with glee, “Listen! This song is about Jesus!” Sarah turned up the music and sure enough, it was!
“That’s weird,” she said, as she clicked forward and backward through the playlist, and sure enough, the theme song from some Vacation Bible School soundtrack was right there in the middle of a Disney playlist. That’s when I started paying attention to the music. Right after a lyric about how life will get crazy, I heard the words “I’m trusting you, God. You are good.”
Sarah said, “Mom! That’s a miracle from God right there. What else could explain this song dropping into the middle of a Disney playlist?” When the song ended, my granddaughter shouted, “Play it again!” So, we listened again to a chorus of children’s joyful voices sing, “I’m trusting you, God. You are good.”
I admit, that happy, unexpected song redirected my focus. in the midst of me trying to figure out the crazy path my life had taken, God creatively reminded me that I can trust in the Lord with all my heart, and that I should not lean not on my own understanding. He reminded me to acknowledge God, and trust him to direct my paths for my good and his glory because he is a good God.
I asked Sarah to send me the link to that happy song so that I could listen to it the next time I started to lean on my own understanding rather than on God. If he can drop a children’s praise song into the middle of a Disney playlist, then he can do anything—even make my wild and crazy paths straight.
If you’re a new listener you probably don’t know about the graphic I design for each episode. It’s perfect for posting to social media. Just visit the podcast page on my website to find and download the graphics. The images change with every episode and contain the declaration for that week.
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This week's scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6