Thoughts for Life: Splinters

Marietta Taylor asks, "Have you ever had a splinter?

Those little slivers of wood get under your skin and they’re not easy to remove without further pain or injury.

It’s amazing how something so small can cause such great discomfort.

We’ll try everything to get relief.

Some 'remedies' require sitting still with no squirming. If we don’t do that, the splinter burrows much deeper.

Sometimes God’s plans for us are like splinters. When His plans don’t line up with ours, it can be painful and we’ll often do everything to get back to our own agenda.

Splinter be gone!

Proverbs tells us there are many plans in a man’s heart but the Lord’s purpose prevails.

We can make plans for our lives based on our own expectations and desires but in the end, God is in control.

His purpose for our lives ultimately determines what happens to us.

Sometimes it might coincide with our plans but when His are different than ours, His will wins.

When this happens, we feel like we’ve gotten a splinter.

God’s 'no' or 'wait' gets under our skin and we don’t like the way it feels.

I’ve tried on occasion to squirm my way out of the Lord’s plan and find a way to make mine work.

All that does is bury the splinter deeper into my spirit.

But when I get still in prayer and obedience, it disappears. How?

In giving up my plans and giving in to God’s lordship, I receive peace.

This may not happen right away but in the end, the splinter is removed and there is sweet peace instead of pain.

Instead of letting splinters get the best of us and steal our joy, we can master their removal.

We can ask God to transform our dreams and desires into His. He can give us faith to believe that his purposes for us are best.

For those occasions when we do get a splinter, we can pray for peace to accept that our plan has been bested by God’s.

Then we can say, 'Splinter, be gone!'

"Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21 NIV

Splinters – Marietta Taylor

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Senior Editor Cindy Sproles of www.ChristianDevotions.us

Marietta Taylor is an author and speaker.

She is the author of Surviving Unemployment:Devotions to Go.

Marietta is a monthly blogger at the Go ask Mom Blog at www.wral.com.

Her tagline is Mom of Teens.

She was also a contributing author to Penned From The Heart Vol XV.

Marietta has a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Visit Marietta at www.mariettataylor.net or www.marismorningroom.blogspot.com or email her at maritay918@gmail.com.

Read Marietta’s devotions.