God Gives Us The Freedom To Choose

Psalms 119: 67-68

I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word. You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees.

….

71-72

My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees. Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver.

Are you wandering off the path?

When I read these verses I actually laughed out loud, not because it is funny but because of how true it is! 🤦‍♀️ It had me shaking my head at how hard headed I can be and how time after time I have had to learn the hard way. But hey- at least I am learning, right?! God gives us the freedom to choose to stay on the path or wander off. Life and the freedom God gives us is a journey. I love the advice to choose progress over perfection, there is a lo of freedom, grace and mercy in this. Progress is forward moving though, so this is not permission to just not be perfect. I think some people twist this advice to mean this. Progress can only be made when we are teachable and open to the learnings of discipline and suffering. Progress also means you are moving forward and getting back on track.

A side note about progress over perfection. If you are perfectionist or a recovering one, you might read this statement and go ‘yay, I don’t have to be perfect’ and you just take a seat and forget about the progress part! So don’t do that! It is two fold - progress over perfection. I have seem some exhausted perfectionists hear this and then take it to mean permission to not be perfect, and so they just stay stuck. Perfection by itself will keep you stuck in a destructive cycle of all or nothing. Conversely permission to not be perfect will also keep you stuck. This is why the word progress is intentionally used here it means you are still in action moving forward.

I hope you find this verse as reassuring as I did. We humans have been doing this dance for thousands of years, you and I aren’t the first and we certainly won’t be the last! We all wander off! It is what we do when we notice or it has been brought to our attention that we have wandered off that will determine our outcome. If you get angry, depressed, sad, self condemnation, blame, justify, make excuses etc.. chances are you will stay lost. Finding our way back comes through humility, admitting your mistakes, forgiveness of self and others, being teachable, being open seeing the good in our suffering and discipline, …

Life is a lab of learning often through experimenting and trial and error. In verse 96 it says ‘even perfection has its limits, but your commands have no limits’. So if you are a recovering perfectionist like me 🙋‍♀️. It is time to let that go - perfection is a form of bondage. If it is ever achieved it is momentary and fleeting at best, and the pursuit of it is exhausting and an idol. When we are walking in consistency of character, integrity and in alignment with our values everything else just seems to work itself out.

Verse 45 says “I will walk in freedom for I have devoted myself to your commands.” Many of us, myself included, can mistakenly see paths or ‘right ways of living’ as limiting our freedom. We take pride in wandering off. Certainly mindful, purposeful and intentional exploration and wandering can be beneficial, as long as we stay oriented to the path. Paths in and of themselves though in actuality create a lot of freedom.

Think about it, paths allow us to move efficiently, with speed and interact with our fellow travelers in an organized and commonly understood ‘rules of the road’ manner. When we go off the path, we have to move with caution, slowly and carefully, if we don’t we can land our selves in a lot of trouble very quickly. We are more likely to have accidents, run into wild creatures, get scratches and scrapes.

Hopefully you can see the wisdom in this teaching, and you like me have enough life experience to shake your head with amusement as well at your own hard headedness. I hope that you are also more accepting of your humanness and seeing that this is a natural part of our growth process and progress. I heard a quote recently that I use often now - ‘if you find yourself putting out the same fire repeatedly- you might be the arsonist’ This is an example of not learning, being humble and not being teachable. This is also an opportunity for growth and to show you where you might have wandered off your path.

I really am trying to not be so hard headed these days by humbling myself, by being teachable and open to correction and discipline. I was born in Missouri though - it is called the ‘show me’ state. So evidently it is in my DNA to be a little stubborn! 🤣. I am also an explorer at heart, so now I just need to wander while seeking and staying in wisdom and discernment, I cannot wander off with reckless abandon or I know I am opening myself up to get bitten by a snake or worse. I am so thankful to God for his giving us the freedom to choose as well as His unending patience, love, comfort, renewal, teaching, discipline, provision, guidance and redemption as I journey in this adventure of life.

Journal Prompt

How about you, aren’t you glad God gave us guide books like the Bible to help us navigate this thing called life on earth? Is there an area of your life that you know you have been wandering off or suffering, are you putting it to good use by learning from it and being open to what it has to teach you? This is when it not only benefits us, but we can become way showers and guides to others!