Choices

Choices. We make thousands of choices daily. Little choices, big choices, some seemingly inconsequential choices. We can't avoid them. From the moment we wake up we are faced with them. Whether it's deciding to hit the snooze button one more time or deciding to make a major career or life change, our choices have consequences.It may be a minor consequence such as having to rush in the morning, it may be a consequence that doesn't show up immediately such as weight gain or health problems due to poor food choices, it may be a major consequence such as a broken marriage or damaged relationships. We are impacted by other people's choices and many of our choices have a domino effect into the lives of others. Without a doubt our choices have a significant impact.

As teenager, I recall thinking that everyone around me was making the choices for my life. My parents, teachers, and coaches seemed to be dictators deciding what was best for me. I couldn't wait to grow up, move out, and make my own choices. I was determined that I knew what was best for my life. I wanted to be in control. I was certain that I could make better choices. Little did I know, the choices that felt like dictatorship were actually protecting me. Unfortunately, I did  move out immediately upon graduating and quickly discovered that choices are very difficult and can forever alter your life.

Some time ago, I was talking with my youngest son who is in the Army. He was telling me how much he loved basic training, which I found to be one of the most ridiculous things I had ever heard. How could anyone "love" having a drill seargant wake you at all hours, yell at you, and require you to do things that you don't want to do.

My son saw things differently. He explained that there is a sense of security when you know that your commanders and others in charge already have a plan. There is comfort when you know that you don't have to decide the course of action, you just have to follow the orders and complete the mission. There is peace when you realize that their goal is not to harm you, but to protect you from harm so that you can continue to carry out your mission.

I've been thinking about this ever since. In a nutshell, he explained true submission. His military experience provided me with a picture of what I wish my relationship with Christ looked like.  Do I experience that sense of security knowing that God is in control? Look at what his word tells me in Isaiah 46:10...

¹⁰ I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’

 

Do I find comfort knowing that I don't have to decide the course of action, I just have to follow His orders and complete the mission? He reminds me in 2 Corinthians 5:7...

⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight.

 

Do I truly have peace knowing that His goal is not to harm me, but to protect me from harm so that I can carry out the mission? I am reminded in Deuteronomy 31:6....

⁶ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

It seems I have another choice to make. The choice to trust. The choice to believe that God is in control and I am not. The choice to be obedient to His plan. The choice to truly submit to One who is greater than I and to yield my will to his will. After all, He did choose me. John 15:16....

¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.