August 10, 2025 Devo

Have you ever watched your adult child or grandchildren make choices that lead them to hard paths with painful consequences? Doesn’t it break your heart? You talk with them. You plead with them. You tell them in advance what’s going to happen and how it’s going to be. But instead of listening to wisdom and experience, they think they know best. So they choose their own way. And they suffer the results of those choices.
You hear that same caring, parental tone in this psalm. The Israelites have suffered time and time again because they chose their way instead of God’s way. They followed after other gods. They ignored God’s commandments. They turned their backs on the One who had brought them out of Egypt and led them to a land that was prosperous and plentiful. As a result, they ended up humiliated in defeat by their enemies and led away into exile. And God’s heart broke for them. In our passage today, God reminds them again of His love and His plan for them. He wants to bless them. He wants to heal them. He wants them to know freedom and joy and the exhilaration of living in victory. But to do that, they have to give up their way for His way. They have to trade their paths for His paths. God can’t be the King who protects them, provides for them, and prospers them when they choose to be their own kings.
The same is true for us. God wants to bless us. He wants to protect us. He wants to help us live lives filled with joy, love, and victory. But He can only do that when we surrender Our Way to His Way. He can only be the King over our lives when we get off the throne and yield it to Him.
So how about it? Are you tired of feeling as if you’re always running against the wind? Are you tired of following your own paths only to discover they’re filled with pain, sorrow, and suffering? Are you tired of dealing with the consequences of following your own wisdom and doing things YOUR way? Maybe it’s time to let God be King in your kingdom again. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that the plans God has for us are “for good and not for evil. Plans to give us a future and a hope.” If that sounds good to you, choose God’s way. I promise you it’s a much better path than the one you're on. That’s God’s Word for you today.