Five Minute Friday - Determine

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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.

determine the outcome

pre-determined

determine your course

********************

We sure like to determine our own outcomes, don't we? We like to think we are in charge of our own destinies, and of course, in many ways we are. There are limits to what we can determine, for we only have control over our own choices and not others.

For many years our church youth group had a theme verse:  Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23) 

This is my son wearing a youth group t-shirt.
The back says "Guard It!" and has the Scripture reference.

We memorized it from the NIV, and it's to the point and easy to remember. I think sometimes the young people remembered it because it sounded a little like a fairy tale motto of following your heart or being complete when you find true love. But there's so much more to guarding our hearts, and we miss it - and maybe even fail to guard it properly! - if we only follow this advice with our modern and romantic view of the heart. To the ancient Israelites and to the Hebrew writers, the heart was not just where you have all your feels, but where you do all your thinking and decision making, and where you make sense of the world. It's our concept of heart along with our concept of mind.

And now the counsel to guard our heart and why means a lot more, I think. This is how the NLT words the verse:

Guard your heart above all else,

for it determines the course of your life.

~Proverbs 4:23~

Do you want to determine your own course? Then guard your thoughts and decisions and your view of the world. How you think, how you make sense of the world - that will determine the course of your life. When we guard our hearts and minds by training our thoughts according to God's wisdom, making our decisions based on God's instruction, and responding with obedience to God's justice and mercy, we will be successful at life.

The best way to determine our own outcome is to determine to guard our hearts and to trust God. We determine to follow, and let him determine the way.

We can make our plans,

but the LORD determines our steps.

~Proverbs 16:9~

*******

 

This seems like a good time and place to say that I am having to practice this right now. Last week my husband's employment of almost 25 years ended rather abruptly, and we are now determining what to do next, and probably where to go next. We're taking the steps we can and making plans as we can, while paying attention to where God is directing us to go. There are many unknowns and many possibilities at this point, and we are susceptible to being stressed about it. I'd appreciate your prayers that we would be at peace and be able to discern God's leading.

This post is linked at Five Minute Friday for the word prompt "Determine".

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