Are you planning to grow in your walk with God in 2023? Here is a devotion that helps us reflect on how we can experience greater peace this year:

IN WORD The hardest aspect of the Christian life is to learn to submit to God in all things. His yoke is easy, but remembering to be bound by it is difficult. We worship Him for His goodness, we thank Him for His love, we pledge to be His disciples, and we ask Him for His wisdom. All the while, the nuts and bolts of following Him are hard to grasp.
When it comes to making decisions, we still like our independence. What is it about our independence that so intrigues us? Why are we so captivated with our decision-making powers? Why, even when we know that a sense of autonomy is Satan’s specialty and the root of our sin, do we insist on maintaining little pieces of it in various corners of our lives? Why, when God tells us one thing and our internal compulsions tell us another, do we often choose the compulsions?
What does that say about our trust in God? That’s what the fall of man in the Garden of Eden was all about: mistrusting God and seeking our own interests. And that’s still what sin is all about. When we choose our own will over God’s, we’re mistrusting Him and trusting ourselves. What an absurdity! We forget the most basic of all biblical teaching: God’s will is in our best interest.
IN DEED Are you convinced of that? The Christian life will be a struggle until we know deep down in our hearts that His commands—even the hard ones—are ultimately for our benefit. We can be sure that the best way to seek our own self-centered interests is to be entirely God-centered. In this paradox, godliness and the self-life meet. Or, as Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33). Our happiness is deeper and richer when we listen to Him. In that sense, it is a self-fulfilling act to forsake our own will and submit to His. Submission seems so noble, but we have a lot at stake in it. When we serve Him, we serve ourselves. Believe that wholeheartedly, and see what happens. “If God’s will is your will and if He always has His way [with you], then you always have your way also.” – Hannah Whithall Smith (in “Walking with God” by Chris Tiegreen)

Many people don’t experience God’s blessings and then blame God. But it isn’t because God hasn’t blessed; it is because they chose not to accept and receive them. When we choose our own way and follow our own desires, we are not choosing what is the best for us, for only God knows what is best as He is totally good, sees everything, and knows the future. In following Him, we have not lost anything, but have gained the abundant life (John 10:10).
Do you desire what is the best? Then learn to humbly trust and obey in your walk with God. A good book to get the year started is the book of Genesis. In the stories of the patriarchs, you will see how faith and obedience lead to life and blessing. Have a blessed week! - from Singapore, Pastor Sam