Decisions! Decisions!

            I’ve been a Christian a very long time, yet I remain amazed as God answers prayers and often the way he answers them. Sometimes it comes from reading His Word, other times from that still small voice.  It can come from a dream or a thought upon waking, or from conversation with a friend or a surprise email message or phone call.    Despite His answers, however, we can still harbor doubts, especially if the answer was not what we expected, how we expected and way beyond what we believe we are capable of handling.

https://www.google.com/search?q=picture+biblical+caravan&client

            As I think about this, I recall a devotion I read this last week about Abraham.  He was an ordinary man called to leave his family, his homeland and all that was familiar to go to a foreign country and start a new life.  To walk away from all he loved and which is familiar must have been frightening.  Have you ever asked yourself how he did it?  Do you think he received what he must have believed to have been God’s directive, and knew immediately he should go?  Or do you, like me, wonder if he didn’t wrestle with it a while?  Would he have instantly looked at his family and said, “God told me……and now we’re getting ready to leave.”  How do you suppose he worked through the inner struggle?

            I suggest even as he knew it was what he needed to do, he still prayed.  Perhaps he even felt certain of it one day; then wondered the next if it was indeed what he was supposed to do.  Maybe even as he made preparations he kept asking himself questions…. All the “what if’s.”  What if he was wrong?  What if his family refused to come with him?  What if he got there and didn’t like where he was going?  What if it wasn’t God at all, but Satan trying to thwart him from being obedient in other matters?

            Abraham was human, as are we.  Sometimes, given circumstances, our inner struggles threaten to overwhelm us with indecision.  How can we know for sure what is the right thing to do?  I suspect, like Abraham the best thing to do is call on the God from whom we believed we have heard.  Tell Him our fears, even while we make plans toward the new adventure He has for us.  Is this easy?  I suggest it is not only “not easy;” it’s downright difficult!

            We face decisions every day.  Not all of them earth shattering, maybe not even particularly difficult, but decisions none the less.  What is your process for making the decisions, even the small, seemingly insignificant ones?  Is it always instantaneous or do you find yourself asking for guidance?  I’d like to think I always ask for guidance.  But that wouldn’t be honest.  I believe most of us ‘handle’ the little decisions without a second thought to the Lord, but only seek His guidance when things get weird and difficult.  Am I alone here?  

I wonder about Abraham.  What were his habits?  Perhaps I’m wrong about his inner struggles.  Perhaps his fellowship with the Lord was such, that he really did immediately say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll go.”  I’d like to be there--in that mindset, and that solid spiritually!  Wouldn’t that make decision making much easier!?  What a thought!

           

His Plan Is The Plan

A friend told me this week, “Fate is not part of God's plan. His plan is the plan.”  What a profound thought.  According to the dictionary, fate is said to be “the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.”  Depending on your perspective that could infer that “fate” is determined by God, or as an unbeliever some other kind of “supernatural power.”  I would suggest the rest of this thought drives home where, we as Christians need to focus.  “His [God’s] plan is the plan.”

We all face difficulties every day in some form.  Life at its best sends little annoyances to heighten our senses to what is important.  Life at its worst sends a crisis and struggle that seems insurmountable through our own means.  It may be an illness, the loss of a loved one, the rebellion of a child, broken dreams, or the breakup of a marriage.  It can be an arduous journey where recovery seems unlikely or evidence of moving forward is marred by daily injections of sadness and strife.

https://www.google.com/search?q=mountain+pictures&client

There’s a song called “The God of the Mountain” which touches my heart. (Songs have a way with me.  Have you noticed?)  As I consider how life tends to change our dreams into despair, love into battles, brokenness and bitterness, I am reminded through this song that the God up on the mountain when life is good, is still the same God who will lift me, hold me and carry me when my life is turned upside down and I am filled with grief and despair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWwfQ_3iY4s

            It is reassuring to know that His plan is the plan!  We can’t know if the next person we meet is in God’s plan as the perfect one to build us up, and move us to our next adventure and destination.  I have found it doesn’t have to make sense and often doesn’t.  The most unlikely person or circumstance can be used of God to be the catalyst to recovery.  I’ve even seen a person from the past reappear seemingly out of nowhere, to be the just the one He uses to pull a situation out of the murk and mire to bring on a whole new perspective.  I serve a God with a sense of humor, unparalleled compassion, and a love for his children that took him all the way to the cross.  Do you really think with that kind of love, He’d give up on us?

 

            All that said, I would suggest we each are responsible to those we know and even the stranger who is simply a friend we haven’t met yet, to be the light God has called us to be.  It may be one of us being called to fill the role of “angel” to fill a need in someone’s life.   It may be years before our smile, random act of kindness, understanding, tenderness or listening ear becomes known to us, as having had an effect on someone.

            I’m glad my God is real and that He is the same whether on the mountain where life is good or in the valley where I feel shattered and in a million tiny pieces. 

God’s Mercy

            As I think about the word mercy, I can’t help but think of the song, “I Stand In Awe.”  It’s one of those songs with powerful lyrics which make me cry.  The mercy, grace and majesty God displayed at the cross can never be duplicated.  Yet, that mercy is an example of how I am to live my life, regardless of circumstances. (I’ve included the link where you can listen to the song.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvipuRC0ntg

 

            There are times we each reach a level of exasperation in circumstances and would love nothing more than exploding over perceived injustices.  But what if we are enduring a “season of suffering” which is sensitizing us to the injuries of other shattered lives?  What if we are being tested in our faith?  What if it’s a time where God wants us to simply trust Him to let the “battle be his” to demonstrate his power?

God answers prayers.  I am as certain of this as I am of breathing.  As I look back over the past week, there are a variety of places I can see the reality of this: reassurance through His Word, that still small voice, the peace that passes all understanding, through the song that reverberates through my mind, in conversations with friends or family that gives me understanding, even through the sun the rises every morning and the rainbow after a storm.  I can have peace because I can know He is in control.

            We are often called to do something greater than us.  Accomplishing the task requires a consistent walk with the Lord so we can have discernment and a clear understanding of His will. Sometimes just being in a situation where “we can do nothing except wait on Him” requires immense faith, and ultimately mercy since this has the potential to put us in a situation to extend kindness and forgive when we’ve been treated harshly.  Isn’t that what Jesus did at the cross?

            It is wonderful to know God knows every single piece of the puzzle, even the broken ones and those pieces where layers have been peeled away, or covered by years of pain.  He wants our lives to be impacted by the lessons we learn and by the people he sends our way to help us through whatever difficulty we are facing.  More than anything, I believe God wants us to believe and know without question that He knows the beginning and the end.  He is a God of mercy who understands every circumstance and wants more than anything, a relationship built on love, faithfulness.  Our lives need to be Christ filled and Christ centered.  This is where we will ultimately find wholeness, and peace.

I Serve A Big God

https://www.google.com/search?q=picture+the+old+rugged+cross

          I’ve long considered myself a person with solid faith.  I know God is real, have seen him work in my life, change the course of things, and make me joyful despite circumstances.  Yet I wonder sometimes about the depth of my faith.  This week during devotional time, I read:  “You do not have, because you do not ask….,” which comes from James 4:2

 

            In my view things get complicated sometimes, because there are circumstances when I don’t know what to ask!  Am I alone here?  It would be easy to say what I want, but I keep coming back to “Is it what God wants?”  How can you tell the difference?  What is the “right” thing?  How long do we wait for answer?  Will the answer be clear enough?  How will I know it’s the right one?  Where exactly do I find the answer?

            In church on Sunday I heard the song, “Had It Not Been.”  Part of the lyrics are “Had it not been for a place called Mount Calvary,  Had it not been for an Old Rugged Cross, Had it not been for a man called Jesus, then forever my soul would be lost.”   Those words have resonated all week in my head, played over and over again.  Ultimately it’s all about God.  As God’s children we must remain in His will with whatever decision is made, despite the circumstance.  Our faith must stay grounded in a God who knows the beginning and the end.  He knows everything about each one of us; our strengths and weaknesses.  He knew circumstances would be what they are before they ever happened.   He is a Big God, bigger than anything we have to deal with; and nothing is impossible with Him. (I've included an awesome video of the song I mentioned earlier-  I added the link separate just in case it doesn't work when you move the mouse over the title.)     Had It Not Been   

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHDxl1KQ8RQ

            While waiting on the Lord to show us His will, we must first surrender the “issue” to Him and believe in faith he will answer.  Fears will be replaced with a confirmation of God’s desire in some form.  Of this I am certain.  Does this mean all fear will be gone?  I don’t think so.  But I do believe it will be a different kind of fear.  The “old fear” will be exchanged with excitement intermingled with the faith that God’s will is being followed.

            Does it mean the “wait” will be easy?  Again, I don’t think so.  Sometimes it is painfully difficult.  I was reading, Life Principles to Live By, by Dr. Charles Stanley.  The one that struck me this morning:  “God acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.”  If we can’t trust a God who works and acts on our behalf, who can we trust?  If we can’t believe in a God who will work things out in a way that is best for us, who can we believe in?  I know I repeat myself but, My God is a BIG God, bigger than anything we have to deal with; and nothing is impossible with Him!