Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
    lead me on level ground.

One of David’s best points was that he was constantly asking God to teach and guide him. We are prone to shift into a humanistic “autopilot mode,” doing things as usual, doing whatever seems right to us, just as it says at the end of the book of Judges. (Judges 21:25) The results of that are “suboptimal,” to say the least! None of us grasps the full picture, even of our own life, not to mention the world around us. We need constant guidance and encouragement, or we will wander off into a dead end. Even knowing that, David famously blew it in a big way, but his repentance was real. David and Peter should be good encouragements to us, because they were both deeply flawed, yet God used them magnificently. We need to be aware of our weaknesses, but not dragged down by them. We need to keep believing that God can and does use flawed vessels, and seek His face always. God never rejects us for how we are, but He also never leaves us as we are; He keeps growing us. Like David, we need to ask Him to teach and lead us, and trust that He is doing exactly that.

It is often interesting to me how exactly the passage for the day will match my circumstances. I draw up the Scripture reading list each month, and I have no idea what the month will hold, but God does, and He uses me. Starting to read this Psalm this morning, I was almost shocked at how exactly it expressed what I was feeling. Frankly, I get tired of continuing to deal with people, when every one of them has different expectations and demands of me. At the same time, I know that we are created for community, and isolation is one of the worst things that can happen. I need to find my identity and my peace in my Lord, knowing that I am a child of God, and that He loves the people around me just as much as He loves me, and the degree of that love is beyond words to express it. I recognize that God still has plans for me, and flowing with those plans by His Spirit is far and away the best course for me, objectively and subjectively. In Sunday’s message I spoke strongly about how I have no native wisdom, but God supplies wisdom for those who ask Him. (James 1:5) I need to remember what God has said through me! Like Paul, I’m not to place weight on how others judge me, but leave my judgment up to God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-4) My focus is to be on being faithful to my Lord. (1 Corinthians 4:2)

Father, thank You for this reminder. I really needed it. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that all of Your plans for me may be fulfilled, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!