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| EVERYTHING in It!
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 READY: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” -Psalm 24:1 SET: Often it seems like life itself is a race—a rat race that sucks away time even while I grasp at minutes in desperation. I’m an endurance athlete; I train for hours to shave seconds off my race time. I’m a busy American. Another paycheck will come, but each moment, once past, is gone forever. Time is my best friend and my fiercest enemy; it is my greatest challenge. At least it was until my husband re-worded his financial motto from “It ain’t our money,” to “It ain’t our time.” Coincidentally Psalm 24:1 has been increasingly floating around in my mind: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” Everything in it is His: His earth, His mountains, His birds, His people…His money…His time. The irony strikes me that I commit the outcome of every race to Christ, whatever He wills—a win, a finish or even a DNF (Did Not Finish). I put it all in His hands and relinquish it to Him. Why do I not do that with each day, each moment, in the “race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1)? “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” It ain’t my money and it ain’t my time; it’s the Lord’s. Even I and all my busyness are His. All my activities are just the “good works He has prepared in advance” for me to do (Ephesians 2:10). All the results are up to Him. These truths echo in the back of my mind. In quiet moments I drag them forward and ponder them. Then a mysterious peace and rest overwhelms the busyness. It is the promised “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) and the rest that comes from throwing all my burdens onto Him (Matthew 11:28). Something deep within me praises God as I experience again that His promises are true! In the Psalmist’s words I’ve found a key that helps me unlock the promises: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” GO: 1. How would your schedule change if God was allowed to rearrange it? 2. How would your reactions change if you saw God causing each unexpected event? 3. How much worry would you release if you really believed that God does control the outcome? WORKOUT: Hebrews 12:1 Ephesians 2:10 Philippians 4:7 Matthew 11:28 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donna Douglass is a long-time triathlete and FCA Endurance board member. Visit www.donnadouglass.com. Now it's your Turn. Write your own FCA Devotional. . . Go to www.fca.org and click the "Submit your own FCA devo!" link on the right side. For more information about FCA please visit FCA.org. |
