Turn by Turn
We checked the camper, took the right route, did everything right on a recent trip - and still lost two tires and I still got hurt. It turns out that part was never up to me. A reflection on Deuteronomy 30:15-20.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Phrases that spoke to me today:
• See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil
• loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments
• I call heaven and earth to witness against you today
• Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live
Applying the Word to My Life:
I've been thinking about everything that's happened over the last couple weeks. We checked the camper over before we left, took the right routes, did everything you're supposed to do - and still lost two tires and I still hurt my hand on the way back. I could not have controlled how that trip turned out. I could only control what I did along the way.
Moses is telling Israel something similar, on a much bigger scale, right before they cross into the land. "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil." Keep reading and notice what he actually puts in their hands - not whether the harvest comes in, not whether their enemies stay away, not whether the years ahead are easy. He puts loving God, walking in His ways, and keeping His commands in their hands. Then he says choose life. The choosing is theirs. What happens after is not.
That's the whole distinction: God gives us agency of choice, not agency of outcome. If we could choose the outcome directly, none of this would mean anything - there'd be no real consequences, no real stakes, nothing that actually revealed who we are. The fact that a good choice does not guarantee a good result is not a flaw in the system. It is the only way choosing ever means something in the first place.
Moses never promises Israel a smooth road if they choose life. He promises that the choice is real and that it is theirs to make, whatever the road turns out to hold. A tire can still blow out on the right route. A hand can still get hurt on the way home from doing everything right. None of that undoes the choice that was actually made, and none of it was ever yours to guarantee in the first place.
The choice underneath all of that is just one choice wearing different clothes. Loving God, walking in His ways, holding fast to Him - that is the life side. Turning away, chasing after other gods, trusting yourself instead - that is the death side. Every choice in front of us, on any given day, is that same fork showing up again: choosing Him, or choosing ourselves.
My Response for Today:
Today I'll make the choice in front of me as well as I can, and leave how it turns out in God's hands.