When we’re in a high state of emotion, it isn’t the best time to make important decisions. When Elijah found out that Queen Jezebel was after him, he was so scared that he was ready to give up his role as a prophet. So God gave him forty days of rest, prayer, and recovery, before he decided what his next steps would be. He was now ready to make a decision that was based on his faith and trust in God, and not his fear of Jezebel. And his decision was very different at the end of forty days of rest than it would have been before he rested. You’ve probably seen people make terrible decisions when they were drained, tired, discouraged, and afraid, that they would never have made otherwise. In general, we’re less likely to choose the right course of action when we’re in the wrong frame of mind. So next time you have an important decision to make, the most sensible things you can do are to wait until you’ve rested, and then talk to God about it. An anxious mind in an exhausted body can lead to a wrong decision. The Bible says: ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus’ (v.6-7 NKJV). Notice what ‘the peace of God’ does for us – it ‘guards’ our minds from things like impulsiveness, selfishness, retaliation, and taking any course of action that results in loss rather than gain, and regret rather than joy.
Acknowledgements
Nov 15: ‘Daily Devotion’, posted 1 September 2009, wakey74.wordpress.com.
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Jan 2: Meyer, Power Thoughts, 221.
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Jan 5: Maxwell, How Successful People Think, 68-69.
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Additional Sources:
Walker, Jon, ‘Forgiving in an Unhealthy Situation’, dailydevotionals@purposedrivenlife.com 10 December 2007.
Harold, Sala, Guidelines for Finding Your Way: Encouragement for the Seasons of Life (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 2003).
Lucado, Max, God’s Inspirational Promise Book (Nashville, TN: J. Countryman, 1996).
Kennedy, D. James and Jerry Newcombe, New Every Morning: A Daily Devotional (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1996).