In life there are many decisions and choices that we make: Some good ones and some bad ones. We often ask God to help us make the right choice. Often he does, in great detail through His word, aka the Bible. Sometimes there is no way to know what God wants you to do. Is this because these are unimportant choices that God doesn’t care about? No. He cares about you, what job you have, what girl/boy you pursue, what school you go to, even what you wear. For those and other choices you make that are not clearly outlined in the Bible, how can you know for certain that you are making the right decision? I learned the secret…
What happens to everyone in the world without fail? Hardship. Obstacles. Setbacks. These are often attributed to being ways that God guides us OR ways that Satan opposes us…
Someone feels called to go on a missions trip and they get sick: “Satan doesn’t want me to preach the word so he’s discouraging me from doing what God wants me to do.”
Someone decides they want a certain job and their application is rejected: “God must be closing this door so I should look out for another.”
We make assumptions about who is the one preventing us from attaining what we feel destined to or even simply want. God may very well be telling you not to go on a mission trip, and Satan may also very well be trying to stop you from getting the job in which God has big plans for you. There is always a point at which we have to decide for ourselves whether something is the right thing to do, and admittedly our personal desires weigh in on those decisions. Still, we think that we have a right choice and a wrong choice and no evidence to know which one is which, and this frustrates us. Here’s how you make the right choice every time: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17
Someone feels called to go on a missions trip and they get sick: “Satan doesn’t want me to preach the word so he’s discouraging me from doing what God wants me to do.”
Someone decides they want a certain job and their application is rejected: “God must be closing this door so I should look out for another.”
We make assumptions about who is the one preventing us from attaining what we feel destined to or even simply want. God may very well be telling you not to go on a mission trip, and Satan may also very well be trying to stop you from getting the job in which God has big plans for you. There is always a point at which we have to decide for ourselves whether something is the right thing to do, and admittedly our personal desires weigh in on those decisions. Still, we think that we have a right choice and a wrong choice and no evidence to know which one is which, and this frustrates us. Here’s how you make the right choice every time: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17
Wait, so the answer IS in the Bible? That’s right!
"If I am playing basketball?" Whatever you do! "If I am at RedBox picking out a movie?" Whatever you do! "If I am shopping?" Whatever you do!
When you face a choice and the only tie-breaking qualifier is your gut feeling, pray to God about it, tell Him you want nothing more than to do His will, and offer Him your final decision. What you are effectively doing is saying that you trust Him to love you and bless you no matter what might appear to be the outcome of your decision, no matter how important or mundane the decision. Do it in His name and thank Him for how He is going to use your decision.
"Whatever you do..."Christians can be like little kids who after being told that a grocery store has every kind of food imaginable insist on asking, "do they have pizza?" Yes, that's a food. "Do they have chicken?" Yes, that's a food.
"If I am playing basketball?" Whatever you do! "If I am at RedBox picking out a movie?" Whatever you do! "If I am shopping?" Whatever you do!
When you face a choice and the only tie-breaking qualifier is your gut feeling, pray to God about it, tell Him you want nothing more than to do His will, and offer Him your final decision. What you are effectively doing is saying that you trust Him to love you and bless you no matter what might appear to be the outcome of your decision, no matter how important or mundane the decision. Do it in His name and thank Him for how He is going to use your decision.
Without going into detail, once I made a decision that God immediately revealed to be the right decision even though there was so much opposition against it. At another time in my life I made the wrong decision that seemed right at the time because there was no opposition. When I thought God meant to bless me one way, despite having picked wrong He changed me and blessed me in a different, better way.
We can’t just wait for God to reveal His plan so we can make our informed decision. We have to discover how are decisions were a part of His plan regardless of what choice we made. God has been faithful to give me an answer to pretty much everything in my life, even if I don’t see the answer for a few years. His faithfulness has been the cornerstone of my faith in Him.
For more on this subject I highly recommend you listen to what Louie Giglio has to say about Colossians 3:17 in his sermon titled
"Passion, Purpose and Designer Jeans"
Get the live sermon along with worship and other speakers from the Passion 2006 "Everything Glorious" DVD or just the sermon as an MP3!
We can’t just wait for God to reveal His plan so we can make our informed decision. We have to discover how are decisions were a part of His plan regardless of what choice we made. God has been faithful to give me an answer to pretty much everything in my life, even if I don’t see the answer for a few years. His faithfulness has been the cornerstone of my faith in Him.
For more on this subject I highly recommend you listen to what Louie Giglio has to say about Colossians 3:17 in his sermon titled
"Passion, Purpose and Designer Jeans"
Get the live sermon along with worship and other speakers from the Passion 2006 "Everything Glorious" DVD or just the sermon as an MP3!
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