Your biggest problem

 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. - Psalm 6:31, ESV

From One Liners, distributed by a local printer, is the following line: “I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow is not looking good either.” We chuckle at that bit of humor, thinking, “There are times when I feel just like that.” Then we remember Paul instructs, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). And we feel guilty.

May I give you some insights? These are personal. Most of the time, the real problem isn’t the difficult person whom I would like to tell, “Look, I can only please one person a day and this isn’t your day.” The real problem is me! Surprised that I would say that? Knowing yourself is even more important than knowing your enemy. I often pray, “Lord, save me from myself, from doing something irratio- nal, from saying something I know is unkind which I will later regret, from doing something when I’m stressed out that I ought not to do.” The greatest problem is the person whom I see when I look in the mirror.

One of our failures is that we try to do it all alone. “Dear Lord,” prayed one brother, “thus far today I haven’t lost my temper, said anything I shouldn’t say, eaten anything not on my diet, or told people what I really think of them, but, Lord, I’m about to get out of bed . . . .”

Instead, pray, “Dear Lord, I know the biggest problem I ordinarily face is me – the one for whom You died. Save me from myself, and help me to live this day in such a way that others see you working in my life – an ongoing work in progress, striving to find Your grace, Your help and Your strength for today.”

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Used with permission from Guidelines International Ministries. To learn more about Guidelines and the ministry, send an e-mail to [email protected]. You may also visit www. guidelines.org.