Crosswalk the Devotional - Oct. 2, 2009

October 2, 2009

Do-It-Yourself Analytics
by Laura MacCorkle, Crosswalk.com Senior Editor

I had dinner with a friend recently.  I'll call him David.  Because, well, that's his name.

We enjoyed a great home-cooked meal (if I do say so myself) and had a rich conversation in which we discussed life and faith and the oddities of being single in the twenty-first century.  But then, we got down to the really important matter at hand:  analyzing a man's nonverbal and verbal communication and trying to figure out what it means!

That's right.  I proceeded to pepper David with multiple questions regarding a certain situation, and then we laughed at how women have to analyze every little single move a man may make.

Bless his heart, David was so patient with me.  And he had some great feedback, too.  "Pretty much what a man says is exactly what he means," he said.  "We're fairly simple."  He definitely helped me gain some perspective (and get a grip). 

This one conversation, though, only begins to hint at my "greatness" as a DIY-analytics specialist (take that, Google Analytics!).  No degree or outside study was necessary, as I come by these skills naturally (and sin-naturely).  My mind is always, always processing and coming up with different scenarios and possible interpretations of life situations. 

As if you don't already know, my DIY-analytics specialist status is really code for "worrying."  And hashing and rehashing, having anxious thoughts and not trusting that the Lord is in control of my life is just sinful.  I know this.

So I must go back to the Bible on a continuing basis for correction and for help.  For there, as a believer, I am reminded that I am not promised instant, and fully fleshed out understanding or revelation.  No, I am promised so much more.

I am instructed to trust God:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I am informed that his ways are not mine:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).

I am told that God does care about me, despite who I am:

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.  (Psalms 103:13-14).

And I am reminded of who I am in light of who he is and what he has done:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psalms 8:3-4)

Gulp.  It truly puts a lump in my throat to read this last set of verses from the book of Psalms.  This is who God is.  This is his majesty.  If he is the Creator who has carefully planned and still manages the moon and the stars (the gigantic, complicated, very important moon and stars!), then surely, surely, he has got my life—my very small existence—under control. 

As Romans 11:36 says, all things are "from him and through him and to him."  Our God is sovereign.  The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  That's more than enough times infinity.  And that's all we need to know. 

Intersection of Faith & Life:  Are you a DIY-analytics specialist as well?  The next time you catch yourself worrying, fretting because you don't understand a certain situation and not trusting the Lord, then confess and meditate on the verses below.  Pray that God would help you keep your eyes on him—no matter what is troubling you.  He'll take care of the rest. 

Further Reading:

Job 11:7-9

Psalm 147:5-6

Ecclesiastes 8:17

Ecclesiastes 8:17