Do, Prepare, and Trust

"Do your best, prepare for the worst-then trust God to bring victory."  Proverbs 21:31 MSG

I often wonder what doing my best looks like? Does it look like 14 hour days just to scrape out a meager paycheck?  What about volunteering for anything and everything at church?  Or even further, does it look like running around trying to serve everyone else in an effort to "work" my way to heaven?

I wonder the same about what the worst looks like and how to prepare for it. Living in a van down by the river?.........Our government falls apart and our country collapses?.........We are truly unsaved because of our heart, and not the way we presented ourself to other believers?

Proverbs is the most prolific book of wisdom ever written.  Here is what God has laid upon my heart after reading this passage over and over today: 

"Do your best...."......at everything you do, but your best must be in harmony (not balance, which means everything has equal measure) with all other aspects of life.  Christ displayed harmony in life in all that he did.  He did his best to serve His Father and others, but he harmonized that with the rest of his life and the ultimate vision for his life......God's vision.

".....prepare for the worst........"  Who cares about the end of the US or any other country.  We will survive and persavere.  Who cares about money or retirement or success?  In the end, they become our idols. Preparing for the worst means checking your attitude......how will the worst affect you?  This leads to the last part of this verse.

".....then trust in God to bring victory.".........Doing and preparing lead to trust.  Trust leads to calm, contentment, and joy in life.  Joy leads to service beyond ourselves and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for where we are, what we are going through, and why we are going through it, good or bad.

God's purpose is beyond anything we can fathom.  The world tells us differently.  Do, prepare and trust.  Its imperative.

Freak