Episode 16

TODAY’S READING:

Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;

Don’t for a minute lose sight of them.

They’ll keep your soul alive and well,

they’ll keep you fit and attractive.

You’ll travel safely. You’ll neither tire nor trip.

You’ll take afternoon naps without a worry. You’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep.

No need to panic over alarms or surprises,

or predictions that doomsday’s just around the corner,

Because God will be right there with you;

he’ll keep you safe and sound.

Proverbs 3:21-26 (MSG)

 

Ready to welcome the last week of June! Time is just flying by this year. It feels like March was yesterday, but here we stand 3 months since the start of quarantine. Although some of our activities have resumed, almost every moving piece of our life is different. 

 

I love this passage. A lot! It serves as a reminder of the kind of life I want to live. 

 

Image a life where we get to keep our souls alive and well. We get to be fit and attractive (not a physical attraction but the kind of attraction that comes with God-confidence). We can travel safely and never grow tire. 

 

Wouldn’t you want to take an afternoon nap and not worry about the million things on your to-do list? When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep without worry? 

 

I want to live the kind of life where I don’t panic when alarms of surprises hit my way. 

 

This life is possible; it’s attainable. God is saying we can live this life! This can become our reality. There are two things we need to do. We need to guard clear thinking and common sense – with our lives.

 

It’s funny how the verse says “with our lives” – as if the life we have now depends on this very action. 

 

This is about it; the verse is saying with clear thinking and common sense, we can take naps in the afternoon without worry. We can face an alarm or surprise without panic. 

 

Let’s take the sudden rise in COVID cases into practice as we go about our week. 

 

You see – I know God is using this for our good. He has united families in this time. He has healed broken homes. He is fighting on our behalf. But clear thinking allows me to understand -this virus is still spreading, it’s a fight against something we cannot see, but our friends and family’s well-being depends on our response and the actions we take when we do go out. So common sense would ask us to continue to listen to the guidelines. We should be washing our hands and not touching our faces. We should practice safety measures. 

 

Now, I can take a nap in the middle of the afternoon without any worry because I know that God’s hand is over my life; no matter what happens, he is in control, yet I am doing everything I can to live a healthy life. 

 

We can’t give way to panic. We can’t overthink and try to “fix everything.” That’s not clear thinking. 

 

I hope we apply this principle to every single area of our life. Clear thinking, common sense. The next time you hit a bump in the road, clear thinking and common sense. When your boss asks you a question that throws you off, clear thinking and common sense, when your job hits a plateau with income, your response should be clear thinking and common sense. Let’s try and reframe from responding to things with our emotions. Emotions are fleeting. 

 

This very principle is all we need to live a life of pure joy. The Lord is good; let’s allow Him to shine through us. 

 

PRAYER

Lord, we are so thankful you’ve given us a sound mind. We are thankful we can rely on clear thinking and a sound mind to help us light up a room. We love you with every once in us. Give us the logic to rely on when we want to react to our emotions. There is nothing we want more than to live a life without worry, a life without fear. We want to live a life in which you guide us, and we can react to absolutely any situation with a clear mind. We thank you, we love you! In your holy name, we pray, Amen!