NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

May 16 - Keep it simple

Scripture focus: The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Psalm 116:6 (NIV)

The simplest explanation is always the most likely.

Agatha Christie

I love to hear people's stories. I particularly enjoy the storytelling as it unfolds in community. So it was with great delight that I found myself sitting around a large table with good friends sharing a fine meal and a good story.

The storyteller was weaving a tale of messy living. She was hypothesizing and theorizing about how her life choices had a certain pattern of dysfunction that she found painful. She wondered aloud with a tinge of envy how others managed to find their way to freedom, and she could not seem to get on that same path.

Finally, she turned to the guy sitting next to her and said, "How did you do it?"

Listen to the reply. "One day I stopped."

Now, this answer only works at this particular table because we are close friends. Everyone knows the twists and turns that this decision has taken over the years. The road has been long and bumpy. But the simple truth is this: one day, this person decided to get off the hamster wheel of his cyclical suffering and never return to it. The application of the decision gets more complicated. But the moment of clarity that led to a moment of decision that caused a cascading effect of making changes (both large and small) that transformed a life is simple in a paradoxical sort of way.

Skill set #15: Keep it simple.

Recommended reading: Deuteronomy 26-29

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