God’s Way is Better
Monday’s Verses:
From Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
Forest Frank’s song “Your Way Is Better” is a worship song that, at its core, is a confession. “I will make room for You to do whatever You want to” is the heart of the Christian life summed up in a sentence. It’s the crux of the Christian faith. This worship song gets us to confess that to God with music. We are reminded that our sinful nature wants to be the master of our own destiny. We want to be comfortable and have all the answers. But God’s way always requires that we surrender. When we give Him room to move and work in our lives, that’s where faith kicks in.
Forest Frank is essentially saying that following Jesus requires that we loosen our grip on life as we think it should go. We lay down our pride, our plans, even our pain. We do not lay these things down to be left empty. We lay them down to be filled up with the only thing better: Christ.
Lutherans understand that laying down our own way is not a way to earn God’s favor. It is a response to the grace we have already been given in Christ. Jesus already did that work. He surrendered everything on the cross in order not just to forgive us but to lead us into new life. When we worship with the words “Your way is better,” we are not simply reciting nice theological words. We are saying, “not my will, but Yours be done.”
The beautiful thing is that God’s way really is better. It may not be easier. It may even look like loss. But it is the way of peace, hope, and resurrection.
Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
God, you know the parts of my life I try to hang on to. Help me let go of them. Teach me to trust you more than my plans. When I don’t understand, show me the cross. That’s the place where Your way looked like defeat. But the cross is the place where God’s way was proven to be the only way, salvation. Your way is better. Always. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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