Saturday August 18, 2012

Hebrews 3:6

⁶ but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.^[a]

"I just don't want to make the wrong decision."

I have said this self-centered phrase.

I have heard it countless times from kids, from friends, from family.  It's a burden that weighs heavy on someone who's just trying to, "do the right thing".

It's also the biggest procrastination tool.  The solitary hinderance from moving forward.  The most common enabler.  The largest crutch. The deepest illusion. You may think I"m wrong about this, and that's fine.  I may in fact, be.  That's the risk we run when we share something bold, isn't it? I am not convinced that we, as God's people, can make the wrong decision.

EVER.

Mad at me yet?

Allow me to explain before you think I've gone off the deep end.

We toil endlessly over whether or not we should DO something or other, before we access where our hearts are in the business.  For me, this plays out in my walk with Christ.  If I'm just to love the Lord my God with all of my heart, my soul and my mind and love my neighbor as myself, why am I worried about making a decision that might, potentially, screw up my life in some way? As if I, myself, have any power at all and by some superstitious notion have the capability to thwart God's sovereignty, go around his big arms, and mess things up royally beyond repair.

If I believe everything the Bible says about God, which I do, that He is loving, all-knowing, that he's accepting of me even with all of my sin, that He delights in me and wants only the best for me, that he LIVES within ME  and guides me, what am I so anxious about?  I cannot possibly make the wrong decision.  That would mean that I have elevated myself above His power, His grace, His love for me.  I have forgotten in Whom I find my hope and confidence.  It's certainly not myself.

It's not about the decision, it's about whether or not we believe we are God's house and have our confidence and hope in Him- not in our own ability to master our circumstances.

Staying in your job or leaving? Making a large investment with an even larger risk? Choosing a pre-school for your kid? Moving across the country for someone you love? Changing careers? Having a child? Buying a house? Changing a negative behavior?

The pressure that comes from trying to make the right decision doesn't come from God.  It comes from me.  From my believe in my ability to mold things to my will;  the illusion that I hold the strings, that I'm  the end-all-be-all.   The one who holds all things together.

That sounds suspiciously like a Bible verse.....funny thing is, it wasn't talking about ME.  I'm not the one who holds the universe together.  Sorry to inform you, but you aren't it either.

We hold off moving forward because we are, "afraid of making the wrong decision".  Say what it is.  We're really afraid we'll do something God would never be able to fix.  We're afraid that He's going to look the other way this time and let us fall on our butts and suffer the backlash.  We're afraid because we believe we actually control all things in the universe. We're afraid that God can't use what we've done for good, which is just silly.  It's the decisions that I may have deemed, "the wrong ones" that taught me the most about the character of our loving God.   We have no faith in God's power, no belief in His promises, no trust.  Because there is no half-way here.  We trust or we don't.  We believe, or we don't.  We love, or we don't.

It's not about the decision at all- it's about whether or not we believe we are God's house, and that his promises are true.  In Him we find our hope and confidence.

Don't put it off another second.  Check your heart and make the decision.  It can't be "wrong" if you do.