Just Do Something: Part 2

After having listened to the message a few more times and digesting it a little, I feel like I should offer something a little more than just a huge summary of what went on.

What I definitely took away from this message is how sinful it is to ask God to take me by the hand and guide me through every difficult decision in life. We feel like it is what we ought to expect from God, and even as I write this I have a plaque with the famous "Footprints" poem, reinforcing the mentality that God will carry us whenever we struggle. And of course, it is true that Jesus does carry us through the difficult times in our lives through the promises of His fellowship and wisdom offered in the scriptures, but not necessarily by telling us which job to take, where we should live, who we should date, etc.

It has occurred to me that many times in the past when I stop at a choice in my life about job, or church, or how I can serve, I stop and I prayed. I didn't pray to ask God for wisdom about examining my own sin or how I can be sanctified with the choices before me. I prayed because I was afraid that if I made the wrong choice, God would not be with me. And so I didn't want to make the "wrong" choice, so I waited until I was reasonably sure I knew what was the "right" choice. This isn't a sign of holiness or spiritual maturity. This is a sign of Sin, of a lack of trust in the promises of God.

Certainly we should pray at difficult times or choices in our life, but it does not serve to sanctify us if we expect God to just tell us what to do, what not to touch, where not to go, who we should go out with, etc. We should pray for God to reveal our sin to us and to sanctify us, because this is the will of God. Are we making a choice based on pride or fear? Or are we making choices based solely for our joy in Christ or for the purposes of furthering the kingdom? Our sanctification grows when we come across difficult choices in our life and trust that God will hold your future in His hand no matter what. It grows when sometimes we do make the "wrong" choice and we push through the valleys and we learn to trust God in other ways. It grows not when we rely on God to make our choices for us, but when we learn to make choices ourselves that sanctify us and bring us more joy in Christ.

FYI: By the way, there are a lot of Christian girls out there waiting for the guys to step up. Don't just go and randomly pick people, but for all you guys out there who can't seem to find a girlfriend, maybe it's because you aren't spiritually mature enough to appreciate the sisters around you.