Welcome back! If you are just joining us, we are using the YouVersion Bible App to follow a devotional together. Read THIS POST to get all the information you need to join in and then you can read THIS MORNING’S POST to see the promises we are focusing on this week.

What did you think of the promises this week? We had a little bit of a common thread this week in most of the promises about committing our plans to God and following His way instead of our own. Which promise did I choose?

Don’t follow after success the way the world does. Make committing your efforts to Me the priority. I’ll see you through. Proverbs 16:3

Our work takes many forms. We may be at home, raising young kids. We could be teachers, doctors, factory workers, in an office, or a cashier at a grocery store. But we can’t focus only on “job” type work but everything we do in life. The NIV translation says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (emphasis mine).

Washing dishes, buying groceries, visiting family, clearing the gutters, teaching Sunday School, volunteering at the animal shelter, or baking cookies for a new neighbor can be works that we commit to the Lord. The verse before this promise says, “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” Sometimes our underlying motives may not be as pure as it seems. Or our attitude behind the behavior isn’t as willing as our actions portray.

What about future plans? What dreams do you have for the future? Are they in line with God’s plan? This promise isn’t about getting God on our side to make our dreams come true but handing our dreams and thoughts to him so he can line our thoughts up to His plans.

I have big dreams for this little blog. Big, big dreams of a large and connected community that encourages and inspires each other to seek joy and choose to love their current, messy, crazy lives. And honestly, dreams of it bringing in a stream of income. But I don’t want that income in order to live a more lavish life. I want that income in order to give more generously to causes I believe in and want to partner with in an ongoing way.

Yeah, I also have dreams of a larger home that can hold more people (five kids bringing spouses and future kids around will not happen in this home!) but I can’t let the lure of money, no matter my intentions with it, become the driving force. I need to commit this blog to God, so that what I do points to Him and that He can use it as a tool. He will adjust my thinking if or when I get off track, and that’s exactly what I want. We pray every night that God will use this space for His purpose and that He will guide all the plans we make for it.