Common Sense

"No one can serve two masters.
For you will hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other."
(Matthew 6:24 NLT)

When we are born on this earth, we enter into a set of ideas that have been established through the generations. So many of these ideas have gone on so long we have a hard time imagining there might be any other way to live life. It just seems to make perfect common sense. Does God call us to use this common sense or to use His sense? Does He ask us to plan, strategize and organize our lives according to our common sense, or does He ask us to ask Him daily for instructions, for help, for the path to follow through each day? And if He does ask us to ask Him, what happens to our common sense in all of that? It is very challenging to stop and ask God what He would have us do when many would say, "That’s not the way it should be done. It just doesn’t make any sense!"

What does the world tell us to do? "Save your money!" What does God’s Word say?
Don’t store up treasures on earth…store your treasures in heaven. (Matt. 6:19a-20a)
What else? "Make sure you have enough provisions, because God helps those who help themselves." What does God’s Word say? …don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. (Matthew 6:25 NLT) Let’s look at one last thing the world might tell us. "It’s fine to be concerned about the things of God, but let’s keep our priorities in the right order! After I tend to all my responsibilities, I’ll turn my attention to heavenly concerns." What does God’s Word say? Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. (Matthew 6:32-33 NLT)

I think there is such a key word in that bit of Scripture, it’s the word, "if." Because if we are mostly concerned about taking care of our own needs, and if we are more focused on the things of this world rather than the things of heaven, we may miss the miracle workings of God in our lives to provide for all our needs from day to day.  

God is an orderly God. He is not a God of chaos and confusion. God has perfect timing and perfect precision in the workings of this world. In God’s orderliness, in His perfect-ness, sense can be made out of it, even if we don’t understand it all yet in our limited minds. So which path do we choose? The path of common sense, the one blazed out for us by so many that have gone ahead, or the path of God’s choosing, perhaps not common sense but God’s sense of direction?

We have to keep looking up and seeking direction from the One watching over us because the path He guides us down will make the most sense in the end!! Guaranteed! Will there be times of trouble? Of course, but through it all, God will lead us Home. He will provide for us and He will guide us upon the path of His peace through all that we must face.