Sending children to school is only the beginning of the letting-go process for parents. Children become more and more independent as they learn to make choices for themselves. In the process of growing up, they have to make decisions about friends, dating, majors in college education, careers, marriage, and so on.

As believers, we know that we should seek God's will in every aspect of life, but that does not mean we always do so. Nowadays, with so many voices on the Internet and elsewhere eager to give advice on every little topic, it is easy to see God as only one of the experts available to us. We're tempted to ask for God's blessing on choices we have already made, rather than asking for God's guidance in our decision-making in the first place.

When the Israelites came to the prophet Jeremiah to ask for the Lord's guidance, they promised that "whether it is favor­able or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God." But when Jeremiah told them what the Lord wanted them to do, they refused. Their minds had already been made up. They trusted more in another power (Egypt) for protection than in the power of almighty God.

What a contrast from Joshua, who had made up his mind to serve only God! Whom will you choose to serve at every turn?