Decisions

There are some times in life when everything just seems to be confused. There are some decisions that just seem too big to make. There are questions that just don’t seem to have answers. There are times when you know God is there, but He just seems to be silent. What do you do in those times? Do you just wait them out? Do you just stand on faith and believe that you will get through and just wait? Or are we called to fight? Are we called to fight for the truth? Are we called to fight for what we believe is right? How do we know? How do we know how to say “no” to some things, and “yes” to others? How do we know what it is that God is saying when we don’t hear his voice? How do we know when we don’t understand which way is up. Do we just stand and wait, or do we fight for that knowledge?

I believe that there is direction! I believe that there is direction in Christ! I believe that there may be a battle, but the war is already won! I believe that even when we don’t see what way is up, when we don’t know which way we are to go, we can trust on the promises of God. We can trust his word! He says in Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” That means to me that we can plan all that we want, we can get stressed, we can try so hard to do what is “right”, but in the end, the Lord will prevail. Why do we get so worried? Look at Proverbs 16:9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”. Very much the same concept; we can even try to do something against God, we can be independent and try to plan our own way, but God still is the one who is determining our footsteps. Why do we worry so much? God has promised us guidance. Look at Isaiah 30:20, 21 “Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it”.

            He will be there for us, especially when we are looking to follow him. Take a look at Matthew 6:33,34 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. Or Proverbs 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”.  Those are some pretty amazing promises. I think instead of trying so hard to plan which way we are going in life, let’s just take some time going after God. I think what we need more than anything is closeness to God.

Proverbs 16:33 states “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” He is the one that plans our footsteps. Jeremiah 10:23 says “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps” According to these verses, it is not even our job to plan our steps. God is the one who is directing us. All we got to do is simply rest in him. I like the way that Psalm 37:3-6 states it “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun”. We don’t have to do a whole lot, just delight ourselves in the Lord; trust completely in him. Stop having so much faith in our own capability to make decisions and trust in God’s.

Can we stop spending all our time worrying about which way is up; worrying about hearing God’s voice; worrying about whether to say “yes” or “no” to things in life, and just spend some real quality time with Him? Can we focus on what really matters and trust him to take care of the rest? I know, I know, all that comes up is the but… but… but… what about this decision that needs to be made today? What about the money that I have to have tomorrow? What about the person I have to give an answer to? What about the business that I want to start? Just stop thinking about these questions for a moment and start meditating on the verses above. Once we truly let go, I believe that God will make the answers abundantly clear to us. Look at the promises, meditate on the verses, and then step out and do something! Stop spending your time wallowing in your own indecision. Make a decision, and then stand on it by faith. By faith believing that the above promises really are true and that He WILL guide us! Don’t be so afraid to make a mistake! There IS victory in Christ!

Gandi… Wow, I just watched the movie last night, and it powerfully impacted me. What impressed me the most was the power of influence. Gandi did not just live for his own life. He did not just try to be the best person that he could be in himself; he went out to influence people. Imagine telling an entire nation not to fight. Imagine trying to impact that many people, to tell that many people that it is for their benefit that they lay down their anger and do not resist those that are against them with bloodshed. Imagine telling an angry mob that they should not fight! And then imagine actually believing that they will listen! Wow. Gandi knew what he believed, and he knew it so strongly that he was not afraid to tell the entire nation to live it. Imagine the doubt that must have went through his mind. Imagine how he could have questioned “What if I am wrong?” But he simply stood strong on his position, and he literally changed a nation. He caused a nation to quit fighting simply by believing it was possible and living that belief out!

            Imagine believing so strongly in your cause that you do not only live it, but you also influence others to live it!  I am deeply challenged. I live my life generally feeling like I am only responsible for myself. I allow others to have their own beliefs, and live their own lives even if I feel like they are completely wrong. I do not seek to impact. I allow the Bible and the words that I read to impact only myself, I do not seek to allow them to impact those around me. I see the life of Gandi, and I see the incredible power of influence. By myself I can make a small difference in the world around me, but if I seek to influence others, if I seek to make my life a call to others to follow Jesus as well, then I can make a huge difference in the world. There is such an incredible power in influence! I have realized that I am so wrong, so terribly wrong. My job is not just to live for myself, its not just to follow Christ myself the best that I can. It is to influence.

            My challenge and my question today is, how strongly do you believe in Jesus Christ? How strongly do you believe in his power to change lives? And are you willing to allow that belief to permeate who you are so strongly that you are willing to actually take responsibility for leading a nation in that direction? There can be no questioning “What if I am wrong?” You must be so strong on your position that you believe without a shadow of a doubt that you are leading many people in the right direction.

            It is not until we are that strong on our beliefs that we can make an impact. But if we can say “I know whom I have believed”, and truly mean it, I believe that we can change a nation. Psalm 2:8 says “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” God wants to give us the nations, but we got to believe him! Are we willing to stand on what we believe, to be confident enough in the truth of it that we are willing to impact nations? How big do we believe that our God is?