The Only Way Forward Is Back by Jackson TerKeurstSample

CHOOSE LIFE

Proverbs 19:21 tells us, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” My fifth-grade teacher in Liberia used to quote this verse to us by paraphrasing, “Man can make his own plans, but God always has the last word.”

All of us are limited people who are loved by a limitless God. We can make plans and work hard, but then we have to surrender control and trust that God will bring us right where we’re meant to be.

Back in Liberia, when I was trying to survive the war, I could have chosen to become a child solider. It would have been the easy way out. There was some security in it, like weapons, food, and shelter.

Or I could have given up on life and died beside a trash pile at one of the many orphanages I lived in. Choosing to live was not easy. My situation was beyond painful and miserable, and escaping the torture of starvation seemed more appealing than I want to admit.

But what I have learned is that often, when we choose what’s easy in the moment, we’re choosing hard later. Becoming a child soldier might have given me food in the moment, but it likely would have led to mental and physical torture down the road. Giving into death would have ended my immediate suffering, but it would have meant giving up on all the life I had yet to live.

I’ve learned not to take the easy road but instead to choose the “narrow gate” that Jesus talks about in Matthew 7:13. Jesus also tells us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). God sees the big picture. He has a plan. He gets the final word. Even when that plan or word is different than we want it to be.

With God’s help, we can choose life again and again. What does that look like for you today?

Heavenly Father, I surrender my plans to You. Help me to trust in You. Strengthen me to choose life, to walk in hope, and to believe that You are always guiding me, even when I don’t understand. Thank You for the unseen ways You have always been working in my life. Amen.

This plan is presented to you by The Only Way Forward is Back by Jackson TerKeurst. To learn more about this book, please click here.