So, I have surrendered my life to God. I have given up my personal selfish ambitions, dreams, and desires, and instead want to live out His plans for my life. Living for Jesus is the most satisfying lifestyle.
Often in life we are faced with a multiplicity of options. Our lives can go so many ways! Let’s say you are a junior or senior in High School, or a senior in college like me. O-M-G! What school do I go to next? Where should I live? Is this a good place to work? Should I move out? Who am I going to marry? And you thought Walmart had options…
The choices are flying everywhere, the options abound, and the reality sinks in that pretty soon we have to stop examining the different paths and Take The Next Step!
If we have surrendered our lives to God and our goal in life is to live for Him (The King), He is directing our steps. We are not left alone to figure out which one will be the best choice for our lives. There may be multiple options, but He knows which ones will accomplish His purpose in our lives and bring us the most satisfaction. So we face the seemingly endless possibilities and say, “So God, What’s the next step?”
Let’s compare our life for a moment to shopping. (All the ladies said…! ) So, we walk into the King of Prussia mall, overwhelmed by all the floors we could visit. On each floor are several wings that we could travel down, each wing fitted with its own impressive collection of stores. Each store contains thousands upon thousands of items we could purchase. “So God, which one?” Each item I see represents an option or a plan I have for how my life could play out. Where do I start?
I wander down a wing that has some lighting that appeals to me. I take a few steps and hear glorious Christmas music playing in one of the stores, so I quickly turn in there. Once I’m inside, something catches my eye. I take it off the shelf and start to play with the idea of buying it, turning it over in my hands, examining different aspects of it, etc. All the while I am wondering, “God, is this a good decision? Will this be best for me?” The longer I look at the item, the more I like it. I start to think, “I hope this is the one for me!” This is not bad! It is okay to inwardly desire one option over another. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, if God doesn’t say otherwise, check your motives, ask for wisdom, seek counsel from mentors, and then buy it. Take the thing home for goodness sake! Don’t become paralyzed because you are so nervous that if you choose one, it will be “The Wrong One.” Sometimes He does layout the specific choice to take. But other times He lays out a few options to choose and they are all good!
The issue begins when I become possessive. I’ve yet to make a decision and bring this item to the register, but I start to hold onto it so tight that my knuckles become white. I go from examining and admiring the possibility, to becoming so possessive of it that if God were to come along and say, “This is not the best one. Put that down and let me show you better,” I am too attached to this idea to let it go.
At the start, I was examining options with the desire that I would come across God’s best choice for me. But it transformed into something ugly. I wanted what I wanted so bad that I abandoned my initial purpose and exchanged God’s best for what I think is best. May this not be us! While we are still unsure, waiting for God to give us a green light or to say, “I have something better,” let us not become possessive of the possibility in our hands. Now if the one we liked turns out to not be the best, sure we might be a little disappointed. Sure our heart might bleed a little bit. But let us protect our emotions and motives so that if that is the case, we can put it back on the shelf, walk out the store, and move on, bleeding and all, in full confidence that God was right, and that it was not the best option for us. If the option that we desired ends up being a good choice and path to pursue, then GREAT! Now we can enjoy the great gift from God. We will be grateful and thankful as we take it home knowing that we have not treasured the gift more than the giver. We will have kept our priorities in the right place.
So God, what’s next?
No comments:
Post a Comment