Articles/Bulletins
Managing Life's Choices
Do you want your coffee with cream and sugar or do you want it black? Do you wear the red tie or the blue tie? Should you eat the pizza for lunch or the salad? Every day we are faced with choices. Some choices don’t seem so difficult with consequences that seem small, while other choices can have a huge impact on you for the rest of your life. Which job do you take? Where should I go to school? What do I want to do with my life? Should I be baptized? Which church should I attend? How do you handle the big decisions in your life? Making the “big” decisions can be overwhelming and difficult, but if you follow a few basic guidelines, you will be surprised by the results.
I think the biggest problem people have when making life changing decisions is the lack of patience. We are humans, and humans want things done now! We aren’t happy if we have to wait for anything. We want instant gratification and instant results. We must learn one simple rule: my time is different than God’s time. When confronting the choices we have in life, God should always be brought into the equation. We should always turn to God in prayer, ask Him for help and guidance, and most importantly ask Him for the patience to carry you through whatever you’re going through.
I’m reminded of Jesus on the night he was betrayed in the garden. Jesus knew that his death was just a few short hours away. He knew that pain and torture were waiting for Him. Jesus had a decision to make. He could have called upon the angels in heaven to come down and save Him from the impending torture of crucifixion or He could go along with the plan that was put in place from the very beginning. The choice was His, but notice that He didn’t make this decision alone. “Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray’” (Matt 26:36). His prayer was simple: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39).
Jesus understood that God’s will and God’s way was more important than His own. I wonder how many of us have the same trust in God that Jesus had in the garden? Do you trust that God’s way is what’s best for your life? Next time you are faced with one of life’s big decisions, put the decision in God’s hands. Ask God which way He wants you to go. From my own personal experience, God has a way of shutting some doors and opening other ones to help show you the way He intends for you to go. Sometimes it may take awhile for God’s way to become clear. With patience and trust in the Lord, we can begin to make decisions that will not only benefit our lives, but further the work of God’s kingdom.
~ Kevin
- Bulletin 9-1-13.pdf.zip (2.36 MB)
