“It does not matter what people think of ye. God’s opinion is the only one that matters.” – Rescue in the Wilderness, Andrea Byrd
Let’s take a moment to settle in on this quote for a moment.
How often do you think about what other people think about you?
I know it’s a bit of a tongue twister but bear with me. Are you living for people’s approval or God’s?
In today’s society, opinions are freely offered. Because of the anonymity of the screen, we often get people’s unfiltered opinions. Usually unsolicited.
And it’s hard to ignore when our feed refreshes constantly.
Let’s bring it in a little closer.
Maybe you have someone who is hypercritical of you. If you wear a new outfit (or an old one), they have something to say.
If you gain a few pounds (or lose some), they volunteer an opinion. Often in a way that cuts into your psyche and makes you wonder why you even try.
Maybe you’ve been given a calling from the Lord, and you’re doing the best you can to accomplish it, but there are all these naysayers! You can’t draw a breath without somebody saying something.
Here’s the thing, though: people are always going to have something to say.
As we Jamaicans say, “Mouth mek fi talk, it cut sideways.”
In other words, the mouth was made for us to use it to speak, as is evident in its design.
We can live to please others, which is a guarantee that we will fail. Or we can live to please God. It’s hard, but He helps us to accomplish it.
What will you choose to do today?
About the Book
William Cole cannot forget the cruel burden he carries, not with the pock marks that serve as an outward reminder. Riddled with guilt, he assumed the solitary life of a long hunter, traveling into the wilds of Kentucky each year. But his quiet existence is changed in an instant when, sitting in a tavern, he overhears a man offering his daughter—and her virtue—to the winner of the next round of cards. William’s integrity and desire for redemption will not allow him to sit idly by while such an injustice occurs.
Lucinda Gillespie has suffered from an inexplicable illness her entire life. Her father, embarrassed by her condition, has subjected her to a lonely existence of abuse and confinement. But faced with the ultimate betrayal on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Lucinda quickly realizes her trust is better placed in his hands of the mysterious man who appears at her door. Especially when he offers her the one thing she never thought would be within her grasp—freedom.
In the blink of an eye, both lives change as they begin the difficult, danger-fraught journey westward on the Wilderness Trail. But can they overcome their own perceptions of themselves to find love and the life God created them for?
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