The prudent see trouble coming and take refuge, while the
simple keep going and suffer. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, for our
life is like a vapor that appears for a short time and then vanishes away; so
we ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will go somewhere and do something.”
It is God’s will that we be conformed to the image of
Christ. Christ suffered for us and set an example for us to follow, and we
sometimes suffer according to God’s will; for Jesus is our Master and a servant
is not greater than the master, so just as Jesus suffered persecution so will
we.
We are sojourners and pilgrims in this world, and like
Christ we sometimes have nowhere to lay our heads, because our citizenship is
in Heaven. Blessed are we who believe without seeing. For God’s ways are higher
than ours, and His thoughts are higher than ours.
We should not exalt ourselves, but rather wait to be called
to the table. So I have said, “I will not speak of Him or speak in His name,”
but His Word burned like a fire in my heart and I could not hold it back.
He has shown us what is good and what He requires of us: To
do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. So choose this day who
you will serve: If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, then go your own
way; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
[Some Scriptures that have previously guided, and still do
guide my life: Proverbs 22:3/27:12; James 4:13-15; Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 2:21, 1
Peter 4:19, John 15:20; 1 Peter 2:11, Matthew 8:20, Philippians 3:20; John
20:29; Isaiah 55:9; Proverbs 25:6-7, Luke 14:8-11; Jeremiah 20:9; Micah 6:8;
Joshua 24:15. Combined from different translations and paraphrased.]
