No Perfect Choice
I came off the stage after preaching a great message about Revelation and the movement of God aligning with the warfare of our adversary. Inside that message, I included some very pointed comments about the need of our church to rise up and own the movement of ministry that comprises our organization. It’s no surprise that our church runs on people who deem it worthy of their time, talent and energy. Without that, we have nothing.
A young man meets me to discuss his perspective on the message I just preached and lets me know that he’s going to prayerfully seek the Lord about the positions I had talked about. I listened to him for a minute, heard what he said, and then I had to respond with my piece.
I’ve been in this conversation a thousand times before. It’s the age old, “I need to pray about that and see if that’s what God has for me” angle. I love it, it’s necessary for so many things, just not this one.
You see, we don’t need permission or clarification from the Lord to do what he already said to do.
When I tell my kids in the morning as they are waking up, “Hey get some breakfast, there is milk and cereal for you on the table” the last thing I want to hear from them, after I’ve just said that is, “Hey dad, can I have some of this cereal on the table.”
Seems a bit redundant doesn’t it?
It’s because it is!
If I’ve already told them what they need to do next, why on earth would I want to repeat myself?
Frequently people talk with me about God’s plan for their lives. I believe it’s a common misconception we believe about the Bible, Theology and the concept of His directional choice for our lives. I remember being in those moments and struggling with making those choices as well. We tend to believe that God has one perfect mission selected for each of our lives and we have to do our best to center our way into God’s plan and not mess it up.
We end up being fearful of making the wrong decision about everything for fear of missing God’s will for my life. Fear increases when we think of being outside the will of God and not enjoying the protection and blessing of God as well.
So what do we do!?
We don’t make any decision at all! Our choice ends up being NO CHOICE out of fear that we might miss out on God’s perfect plan.
My favorite line right now is this –> What God said one time is good for a lifetime.
When He told us, as he was ascending back into heaven, having completed his earthly mission, to go and do likewise, He never wanted us to look back at Him and ask, now does that include all the things that you have done?
When we begin pestering God over things He’s already answered, we are looking for out clauses rather than clarification. We’re actually looking for God to say, Oh that doesn’t apply to you, you just go back home, put your PJ’s back on and cozy up on the couch in front of a good book and you just leave that hard work to those other people over there. God is not looking for people who want out, He’s looking for people who will take Him at His word and charge in! We need less clarification about the gospel and more determination about accomplishing the work He left us to do. Just get involved, get in the game, get dirty in the work of transmitting the gospel message far and wide.
Recently, Crystal and I were talking about this on many levels and we both came to the same realization that it really doesn’t matter what we put our hands to as long as we stay true and faithful to His Word to us.
We need to stop being so consumed about whether or not we’re doing God’s plan and start living out His mission. The truthful reality is that you can do that in anything you seek to do with your hands. AND, you can do it without making a lifelong decision to it.
I’ve often wondered why we tend to make lifelong decisions rather than short term ones. Why do we want to tend to commit ourselves to the next thing for life? It’s because of that mentality that we actually do and experience less. For me that mentality stems all the way back to our missions days. We literally had to sign a document that indicated if we died in Mexico we would buried there. We had already sold every possession that tied us to the US and left for good. Right up until it wasn’t good anymore! I also remember grieving over that decision because I felt that we had failed. We never failed, we just changed direction! And what if we starting making a lot of changes to our direction?!
When it comes to church, rather than trying to sink into committing for life, why don’t you just try the next thing? Even if you’re not interested it, just because you know there’s a need there. Do you know how stretching it is to engage in something where you’re not fully comfortable? It’s always that pressure of desperation that drives you farther into your faith.
This is not only true on the spiritual/church level but also the everyday, work life routine level also. We need to stop being content with the way everything has gone for so long and start moving into the mindshifting moments of wondering what if there was something more. What if there was a new angle or a new outcome.
So what would you attempt either today or at some point future just because you want to? And then what are the barriers you see in place that hold you back from getting there?
