The Trouble of Lists

I love lists. I’ve made a bucket list, plenty of to-do lists, long term and short term goal lists, too many pros and cons lists to list… Look, I’m making a list of my lists! Oh dear… If I could organize every aspect of my life on lists, I would. The only problem with that idea is that I would have too many lists to keep track of. As an alternative, I make lists in my head. Sometimes the lists are simply to organize new ideas or to make mental notes and other times they are meant to provide discernment of a choice I have to make. My discernment lists can be more harmful than helpful. Sure, they allow me to separate emotion from logic, to prioritize, and to make predictions about the outcome of either choice but all too often they cause me to focus wholly on the two choices I have rather than on the One who already knows which decision should be made.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness;

and all these things shall be added unto you.”

-Matthew 6:33

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

-1 Peter 5:6-7

So often I find myself struggling over two choices, completely conflicted because my lists prove that according to my partial knowledge, the choices are equal. This leaves me more confused than ever as the decision still must be made. What needless inner conflict this is in light of the fact that I have a loving, wise, infallible God to guide my every choice! Lists may be helpful, but only when submitted to the guidance of my faithful Father who has all the right plans ready to unfold when I humbly seek His desires in place of my own. He sees the whole picture. I can barely see the little puzzle piece of this hour.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”

-Psalm 3:5-7

The Lord is beautifully orchestrating the lives of His servants for His awesome glory! And yet I so easily get distracted by choices that seem to be mine alone to make. No, they are His choices. I am His. The most important list that I should devote time and prayer into making is the list of all the areas of my life that I have yet to surrender to my King. The choices of this list are plain: cling to these areas of my life that I have yet to surrender or give them up to the Lamb who poured out His blood in my place to purchase every area and every decision of my life. I am compelled to choose the latter.

I surrender my choices, lists, and limited perspective to my Worthy, Almighty Savior – Jesus Christ. My eyes are set on Him, my heart is renewed, and as I seek first His kingdom and His righteousness I trust Him with the outcome.

Sanctified and Surrendered by Caitlin Marie Stacy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.