What Should I Choose?!

 

Have you ever stressed about making the right decision? I stress about this all the time, even over small things. What is the right meal to order? Which would be the right book to read next? Which is the right bit of housework that I should get done tonight? Sometimes, it seems like there can only be one right decision, but they all look like they could be good, and I begin to spiral. What ends up happening is that I don’t make a decision, wait until someone else makes the decision, or rush to choose something because I’m running out of time. This way of thinking has a lot to do with my perfectionist tendencies, but they also stem from an incorrect view of God’s will.

Last month, I wrote about good fruit beliefs and bad fruit beliefs and how it is important to weed out the beliefs that produce bad fruit. One of the bad fruit beliefs I garnered from my childhood church attendance is that living in God’s will requires always making the right decision based on the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In every decision, great or small, I must follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. If I choose incorrectly, I am living outside of God’s will. Getting back in God’s will is then very difficult and takes a lot of work.

While it sounds super spiritual, this belief certainly results in bad fruit. In my life, that has looked like unnecessary fear and anxiety that I will make the wrong decision. I am a chronic overthinker and have difficulty relaxing or going with the flow if I think something is not quite “right.” I must constantly remind myself that making a wrong decision is not the end of the world and in many cases, there are many good decisions that could be made.

A few years ago, there was a great show on NBC called Ordinary Joe that was unfortunately cancelled after one season. The show focused on the life of Joe Kimbreau and how his life would have looked if he made one of three different decisions following graduation. There are three different timelines in which Joe is a nurse, police officer, or rockstar. At the beginning, you may think that one of the timelines was the “right” path to take because things seem to be going better, but as the story goes on, you see that each timeline has its own unique joys and challenges. There’s not a clear “right” path. It all contains the ups and downs of life.

I remember when I first started college and had not yet declared my major. I had narrowed it down to a few, but I stressed so much about which path I should take and which was the “right” one. I didn’t have a job I had wanted to do since childhood. I was overwhelmed by the possibilities and scared that one decision could ruin my life. I finally declared as an English Literature major at the beginning of my sophomore year, and I can confidently say that I love where that path has taken me. I love the job I have and the people I get to work with. But you know what? I could probably say the same thing if I had chosen a different major. I don’t believe a different choice would have been wrong. It would have just been different.

So what does living in God’s will actually mean? When God’s will is discussed in Scripture, it is more about our behavior than the decisions we make. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3 ESV). He goes on to give examples of actions to take and abstain from in order to live and grow in sanctification. As you go about your week, I urge you (and myself!) to stress less about making the “right decision.” Focus instead on living a life of sanctification, allowing God to mold our hearts and minds to be more like Him.

--Concetta Swann

Healing Comes

Over many years, I have worked with children and teens as a Social Worker. Most of these young people have seen counselors, sometimes for long stretches of time. For some, counseling is beneficial, for others not so much.

I have wondered why the difference and have begun to notice traits in those who find it helpful and in those who don’t.

The successful are transparent about who they are and how they feel. They participate. They don’t just say what the counselor wants to hear. They listen and are willing to try new things. Essentially, they do the homework.

Unsuccessful clients expect a quick fix or might attend their sessions inconsistently for various reasons. They refuse responsibility for their behaviors and attitudes that contribute to their problems and often blame others.

These attitudes, negative or positive, also apply in our personal walk with Christ. He is the Wonderful Counselor after all. Will He be successful in bringing about lasting change in our hearts? Crawford Loritts said, “Jesus meets us in our transparency.” Being transparent requires humility and courage. To find healing in our lives, we must be willing to face and confess our sin and failures. We all have blind spots that deceive us into believing we don’t need to make any changes, but Jesus is positioned to heal us when we uncover bitterness and unforgiveness and ingratitude and maybe even unkindness in our hearts. He can change us into something much sweeter and more lovely when those things come to light and we seek His forgiveness – when we acknowledge that we have sinned. Meditating on His Word helps keep His commandments before us. We do things His way, not our own, and try new things instead of clinging to our old patterns.  It’s a lifelong process with no quick fixes and requires consistency in keeping our appointments with Him.

In Psalm 139 David said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

Yes, that can be a little scary, a little unsettling. But I want His healing. Don’t you?

joyce hague

The Gospel Truth

 

Two books I’m currently reading, a date on the calendar, my son’s school project, and the Bible lesson I taught on Sunday evening from Acts have all come together with one powerful truth: Salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone. We all know this; we have accepted this truth and rest in it, yet it is good still to be reminded of the beauty of it and not take for granted that we have been taught this powerful gospel message.

In Bullies and Saints, author John Dickson begins his book on the good and the bad in church history by writing about the Crusades in the Middle Ages. In 637, Jerusalem was taken by Muslim armies. Over 400 years later, in 1095, Pope Urban called for a crusade to fight the Muslims and reclaim Jerusalem. He stated the following, “Whoever for devotion alone, not to gain honour or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God can substitute this journey for all penance” (5). In other words, whoever would go fight this battle would be saved and have their sins forgiven. More crusades followed, and in preparation for the fifth crusade in 1213, Pope Innocent “promised ‘full forgiveness of sins’ for all who, with a contrite heart, participated in the venture” (14). Can you imagine living during that time? You’re longing for salvation, to be accepted by a holy God, and you are told that if you fight a battle hundreds of miles from home, you will be saved from your sins. No wonder men (and even children!) lined up to fight.

I’m also reading a biography of Empress Maria Theresa who ruled over Austria, Hungary, and the Bohemian lands in the mid-1700s. She was a devout Catholic and was very concerned about the eternal salvation of her husband and children (one of whom was Marie Antoinette).  Maria Theresa found consolation in the fact that when her twelve-year-old daughter lay dying from smallpox, this daughter “did penance for three quarters of an hour, with a scrupulousness, regret, and devotion that brought her confessor to tears” (675, Maria Theresa: The Habsburg Empress in Her Time). In contrast, when Maria Theresa’s husband died of a heart attack, there was no time for him to speak to a confessor and take the Eucharist before he died. She was thus very concerned about his eternal soul, finding comfort in the fact that he had been at Mass that morning. However, she still established a group of ladies in the city in which her husband died who would pray for his soul in perpetuity (698).

Thankfully, amidst these false teachings about salvation, God had preserved a remnant who would teach the true gospel. In the 1500s (after the Crusades and before Maria Theresa), there was a large revival – a movement across Europe back to the truth of the gospel news: Salvation is by faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone. We call this time the Reformation. October 31, 1517 is often seen as the day when it really got started – when Martin Luther nailed a set of statements, known as the 95 Theses, on a church door in Wittenberg. These statements argued against the false teachings of the Catholic Church, stating that salvation came from God and not through other means. My son Stephen is currently working on a project in which he has to research the contributions of nine of the reformers. Because of them and others (including women!), the gospel message gained ground throughout the lands of Europe and eventually came to America with the Pilgrims.

On Sunday night, my Bible study group looked at Acts 9 – the story of the conversion of Paul. Paul’s salvation did not include fighting in a battle declared salvific by a pope or confessing regularly to a priest and being sure to take the Eucharist before his death. No, an encounter with Christ was enough to cause him to place his faith in Him. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans what it takes to be saved: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Praise God!

--Amy O’Rear