DAY 234 OR AUGUST 22.
REMEMBER WHO IS ULTIMATELY IN CONTROL.
Our thoughts today are from Ezekiel chapter 31, verses 10 and 11.
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says, Because the great cedar towered over
the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, I gave it into the hands of
the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness.
I cast it aside.
And now the big picture concerning these verses.
There was a sense in which Judah felt confident because God had chosen them.
They had forgotten that there was a covenant, and only God had kept his side.
They hadn't, and judgment was inevitable.
Once again Ezekiel denounces Egypt, which had sometimes been a friend to Judah, and
at other times her enemy.
Ezekiel declares God's unwillingness for any of his children to perish.
However, they are determined to belligerently disobey God, as the crisis approaches.
And now today's action step.
Years ago it was very popular to add two letters to most things that you intended to do in
God's name.
I remember the announcements always ended with these letters.
They are DV, and stand for the Latin words, doe volente, which means God-willing.
This is rooted in James chapter 4, verses 13 to 16.
Look here, you who say, Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town, and will stay
there a year.
We will do business there and make a profit.
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?
Your life is like the morning fog.
It's here a little while, then it's gone.
What you ought to say is, If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.
Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
Sadly the use of DV began to be mere repetition, and it fell into non-use.
We don't have to say them, but it's good to recall them whenever you are making plans.
If God is in your arrangements, then you are at the centre of His will for your life.
If you are struggling or feeling uneasy about something right now, then ask yourself, DV,
is God willing?