Sunday Devotional – Simple or Prudent?

The simple believes every word,
But the prudent considers well his steps.
~ Proverbs 14:15

This almost matches perfectly with last week’s devotional (Loving Correction).

A friend of mine (Lissa at Quid for Quill) recently saved some money to have a piece of hers critiqued by a professional writer, but wasn’t sure what to make of it when the person’s response was to change most of what she absolutely loved about it.

Have you ever had that happen with some of your writing?  I definitely have, in an experience similar to Lissa’s last year, and I explained specific details about this piece to the person I was attempting to work with, and from the comments I received, they didn’t even bother to read what I had told them.

Receiving criticism and correction also means that we have to be able to discern which voices and opinions to listen to.  Ultimately, we are the author of that work.  We know exactly what we are trying to convey, and even though we don’t always get it across the first time, there are times when a peer’s critique just makes us sit and scratch our heads going “how did they get THAT out of what I wrote?”

When I receive criticism of a work, I always read through it at least once, and then take each comment about the work as I go.  Sometimes I trash things, because there’s no way I can stick true to the story or the characters if I make a change, and sometimes I find myself completely re-writing things because it really did need it.

It’s all about knowing the heart of the story – what it’s really all about.

And for me, no matter whether it’s a decision in my every day life, or a decision about what I’m writing, it’s always – always - about Him.

He is the discerner of every choice and possibility that lies before us in life.  Why do we not trust Him more?  He has given us access to His very will, and all we have to consider is if we will choose His path for our steps.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. ~ Hebrews 4:12-13 NKJV

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them;
and sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him,
for they do not know the voice of strangers.
~ John 10:4-5 NKJV