Monday Morning Devotion-March 2, 2015

The Unknown Devotion

Do not judge and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn and you will not be condemned.  Forgive and you will be forgiven.            Luke 6:37

      OK so here's the deal with these weekly devotions.  Sometimes a devotion has it's start when the Lord directs me to a particular scripture.  This could come about in many different ways.  I could discover the scripture that will lead to a devotional message by hearing it in a sermon, reading it an article or in another devotion.  Could read it on Facebook or see it on a billboard.  But, somehow I come across a scripture and say, "Thank you Lord, that's the perfect scripture to use this week for my devotion. 

            Of course, that's all I get----to start with---a scripture.  Then I have to write the devotional message on my own.  Well, not exactly on my own as I pray about it and the Lord leads me along the best paths to achieve it's creation.  But, He often makes me work harder than other times, to check sources, research, pray harder, talk to other people, watch videos, or a variety of ways.  But, ultimately the main point is made, elaborated on and the devotion comes to completion.

            On other occasions a catchy title or phrase pops into my mind and I think, "hey that is a great idea for a devotion this week."  Then I have to figure out…"OK I've got the title now what?" 

            Sometimes I have even gotten on a roll.  Took that title and started to run with it.  Typing away I may get far into its creation and stop…"Wait a minute.  What's my scripture here?  What in God's Word best  expresses the way this subject should play out?"

            So, basically the devotion may be derived from a scripture, perhaps even several scriptures, or the scripture may be chosen, after the fact, to fit the devotion. 

            This week none of that happened.  Having been in the mountains most of the week, celebrating my birthday and enjoying the snow, it came up to Friday and I had no idea what this week's devotion would be.  None!  Not one idea would coalesce in my thinking that would lead to a devotion.  So, I typed the heading "The Unknown Devotion" and went off to spend the afternoon with my granddaughter.

            Now on Saturday morning while reading one of Sarah Young's devotions (Jesus Calling)

The unknown devotion became a known devotion or at least one that had potential.  If I were starting from scratch the devotion would be called. "No Comparison."

            The reason Young's devotion, based on Luke 6:37 struck a chord is it is something that the Lord tells us not to do that we all do.  Some are greater offenders than others, but we all do it.  It is just human nature to compare ourselves to others.

            We live in a competitive world.  In trying to better ourselves we are judging where we are and how we are doing by looking at where others are and how they are doing it.  Invariably when we start looking at others we can find some things that they are doing better than we are.

            Jesus says, "Stop it. Don't do that."  Paraphrasing what Young felt led to write after praying about it I'm sure:  Judging and evaluating ourselves is not our role.  Comparing ourselves with other people is not right because God will lead us along a path that is…

And I like this next statement that I am directly quoting (notice the quotation marks, :))….

"God will lead us along a path that is uniquely tailor-made for us."

            One of the reasons I can relate to that statement is that I grew up working, off and on, in a men's clothing store.  My Dad was the manager.  He grew that little store into a thriving business because he knew what kind of clothes…suits, sport coats, slacks, dress shirts and ties looked good on each customer. 

            I have seen Pop talk a customer out of buying a suit because it didn't look good on the man.  Maybe the customer was drawn to the color or the style or the material, but it just didn't bring out his best qualities.  My Dad would say, "Now I could sell you this suit, but I'm not going to because in the long run you will not be happy with it.  Then you won't be happy with me and I would lose a customer and I want you to keep coming back here for your clothing needs."

            He might even sell that customer an even less expensive suit, actually costing himself and the store a few dollars.  But, in the long run, that customer in appreciation of Dad's honesty and liking the end result, would come back time after time.  Many who lived in other states but vacationed in South Florida would wait til they got back to Pop's store to make their clothing purchases.

            Now, here's a point that correlates with what God was saying about comparisons.  He was advising us not to worry about what others were doing just to trust Him because he had a plan, a direction, a course for just us to follow.  It is a "tailor-made" plan. It's our unique plan.

            You see one thing I discovered while working with Pop and observing people's different shapes and sizes, is that there are certain folks who are not going to look good in a suit off the rack.  Maybe their arms are longer or shorter and in addition the waist is larger or smaller than the typical person of that suit size.  That's what those ready-made, on the rack suit sizes are based on; what the dimensions are for the average person that size. 

            So these folks need a tailor-made suit.  In those cases my Dad would get out his measuring tape and write down everything on a form…arm length….inseam, outseam…shoulder width, etch.  Then he and the customer would pick the material, maybe even the same as that of one in stock, that hadn't fit right.  The end result would be a tailor-made suit that fit perfectly in every aspect as well as one happy customer

            God wants us to be happy in every aspect of our lives.  That is why he has a tailor-made plan for us.  There is no reason to compare ourselves to others because they do not have the same tailor-made plan that we do.  They have a tailor-made plan too, whether they follow it or not. But that is not our problem in relation to what we should or shouldn't do.

            We need to diligently, consistently and in faith seek God's tailor-made plan for our lives.

That's how we have the best life possible.

            Following His lead can turn failure into success.  It can even turn "The Unknown Devotion" into one that is timely and tailor-made for writer and reader.

Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for tailor-making a plan for our lives.  Please help us to stay on track and discover where your perfect plan is leading us.  Amen!

***author's note: Hope your tailor-made week is executed to perfection. :)