Foggy Thoughts and Fickle Feet

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“We make time for what we truly value. We build habits and routines around the things that really matter to us.” —C.J. Mahaney

True statement. But we don’t always like to hear this when it comes to prioritizing time in God’s Word and prayer in our lives.

The danger of just fitting the Word of God into our day as we have space is that we end up way off course! We suffer from foggy thoughts and fickle feet. Left to ourselves we have trouble discerning what is accurate and true in a situation. We need the plumb line of God’s Word to teach us real truth, to clear our foggy thoughts and redirect our fickle feet.

Foggy Thoughts

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. —Psalm 119:130-131 (ESV)

Those thoughts the seek to distract us from looking to Jesus and trusting God blur our vision and cloud our thought process. We suffer from foggy thoughts.

We have so much competing for the space in our brains:

  • Work
  • Family
  • Finances
  • Relationships
  • Health
  • Busy schedules and heavy demands
  • Television and entertainment and social media (ouch!)

The gravity pull of this world is heavy and strong. We are easily distracted and thrown off course. We need a redirect. Often our thinking is so foggy we are not even sure what is true. We need the entrance of God’s Word to shine the light of truth into our lives. We need the understanding it brings to our situation.

Hear the longing cry and desire of the psalmist for the Word of God, and the clarity and understanding it imparts to his life. He declares the entrance of God’s Word gives light and understanding to the simple.

The word for understanding in the original Hebrew means to separate mentally.

God’s Word allows us to separate fact from fiction, truth from the lies of the enemy. It’s separates the distorted thoughts, produced by thinking with only our feelings and experiences, from the reality of God’s Word and His promises.

God’s Word opens our eyes and allows us to see ourselves as we truly are, sinners in desperate need of our Savior.

When we make God’s Word a priority in our lives, our hearts and minds are redirected to Truth.

Call out to the Lord today and ask Him to turn to you and to make His face to shine upon you. Experience the radiating beauty and comfort found in God’s presence as He reveals His ways and thoughts to you from His Word.

Fickle Feet

Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. —Psalm 119:133 (NIV)

We have hearts that are naturally prone to wander. We need direction for our steps.

We often allow our steps to be directed by something else, anything else other than the word of God.

  • Direct my steps by my feelings
  • Direct my steps by my desires/lusts
  • Direct my steps by my friends
  • Direct my steps by circumstances
  • Direct my steps by my comfort

Sin, unchecked, will attempt to gain and hold dominion in my life. First it may be in a small or seemingly insignificant area, but that dominion will grow in size and strength until my spiritual life is in serious compromise. It’s a slippery slope for sure! The Word of God protects us from sin—from the sin that will seek out and seize every opportunity to rule and reign in our lives.

I know the sin I battle in my life has at times seemed so overwhelmingly powerful! Many times I have wondered, will I ever overcome this in my life? It leaves me feeling helpless and often hopeless. I have made Psalm 119:133 a constant prayer in my life. There have been seasons when I printed and placed it throughout my house. When the enemy seized a vulnerable moment in my life to assault me with a temptation for a particular sin or to remind me of my past failures, I could look to God’s Word (literally) and remind myself of Truth.

Sin is strong, but grace is stronger. Satan is wise, but God is all-wise. The Lord is on our side.” —Charles Spurgeon

There is power for our lives when we combine the prayer of these verses in Psalm 119 with the promises of truth from Romans 6.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. —Romans 6:4

We do not have to allow those conversations we are perpetually preaching to ourselves that make us doubt who God is, doubt His goodness and faithfulness, and doubt who we are in Christ!

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. —John 8:32

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. —Galatians 6:1

In my faith journey, with the battle of each particular sin, the Lord builds my faith and strengthens my confidence—not in myself but in the reality and truth of who I am in Christ.

When we allow the Word of God to direct our steps, we can walk forward in life with confidence!

The Bible mirrors the character of God. Anyone who cares about knowing what is righteous and wants to act righteously should study the Bible.” — Montgomery Boice

When we find our minds divided, distracted and doubting; when we find our fickle feet wandering off the path of what is right and true, we can correct our course and refocus our minds. We take captive our thoughts by renouncing the lie and centering them on the nature and character of our faithful God. When those thoughts surface that tend to make you fearful and doubt God’s character, fix them on Jesus. Focus on who He is and who you are in Him! When our thoughts are fixed and captivated with Jesus, it changes our perspective and gives us a confident and courageous mind that is characterized by peace, joy, security, contentment and freedom.

Is God’s Word a priority in your day or an after thought? Are you frustrated by walking through life with foggy thoughts and fickle feet? If you’re struggling, ask the Lord for His help. He is so faithful! He will show you where and how to carve out space in your day. And His Spirit, at work within you, will motivate and spur you onto obedience to seize that opportunity!

This Week’s Journaling Assignment: Psalm 119:145-152 (Qoph) and Psalm 119:153-160 (Resh)

Can you believe we are almost through our journaling of Psalm 119. We’ve only got two more weeks! I pray that the Lord has used your time in His Word and the practice of journaling Scripture to encourage your heart, grow your faith and love, and to follow Him in greater depth!

Rejoicing in Him!

Find more Bible studies and devotionals from Susan on her blog, susancady.com.

©2017 Susan Cady, susancady.com

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