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Jeremiah 10:23
Authorized (King James) Version
23 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself:
it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
Authorized (King James) Version
9 A man’s heart deviseth his way:
but the Lord directeth his steps.
Psalm 37:23
Authorized (King James) Version
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:
and he delighteth in his way.
We make our choices, but the Lord controls the outcome. We choose something, and it is the Lord's choice for us. We make choices not knowing that God did it. For example, tonight, I made a payment online for something. But the card I did not want to use was used and the card I got out to use, was not used. Later I understood that God did this because this card has a financial plus coming to it next week. That card turned out to be the right one. But I said, "I used the wrong card".
God does things like this all the time. What seems like mistakes are divinely ordered steps above our wits from the Lord. We end up doing God's will thinking we're doing our own (Rev. 17:17/ Ps. 6:10/ 1 Cor. 1:27-29). Has God ever shown this to happen to you? I asked God about this, and He said,
"I did that {with my cards} because you didn't know what you were doing".
That goes for all of us. Some people think that God is saying that something is wrong with me. No. God is saying the same thing as the scriptures in this post. It is not in us to direct our steps. We devise our way, but the Lord directs our steps. Our steps are ordered by the Lord not ourselves. There is a way that seems right to us, but it ends in death. We would be dead if the Lord had not intervened and outwitted us into His will. God is our Father. God knows our hearts. God is smarter than we are, and we need Him.
Proverbs 14:12
Authorized (King James) Version
12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Proverbs 16:25
Authorized (King James) Version
25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.
What Happened?
What Did God Do?
God wants me to tell you what He did to get me to use the right card when I thought it was the wrong choice to use. He made me forget to update the payment method to the card I wanted to use. Jesus said in Jn. 14:26 that the Holy Spirit works with our memory. I got the card out and it was sitting in front of me. But I liked so much the things that I ordered, that I hit "Place Order" before I updated my payment method. See how God directs our steps? See how He directed my steps? He made me happy because the things I wanted were above my expectations. The satisfaction from the Lord made me forget to use the card I chose and instead I used the previous card on file. That card was God's choice.
I thought this was the wrong card because it had less money on it. I thought the card that I wanted to use was the right choice because it had more money on it. More money seems, better, right? But what I saw after the purchase was deposits coming in a few days which will make this card the one to use instead of the one that I wanted to use. To Jesus, more money later is better than money now...
God Outwits His People for their Good
But He Outwits the Wicked to Torture Them
God outwitted me for my good (Rom. 2:4; 8:28). He does the same thing to the devil and evil people but for their loss (Rev. 17:17/ Job 5:12-14/ 1 Cor. 3:18-23). He tortures them (Ps. 50:16-23/ Mt. 18:34).
The Holy Spirit Works with Our Memory
He Reminds us, and Makes us Forget
He reminds us of scriptures we need (Jn. 14:26)
He makes us forget our misery with joy (Job 11:16-19)
He makes us forget our shame with joy (Isa. 54:4-8)
World without end. Amen.