“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or thaty.” James 4:13-15
I have been thinking lately a lot about decisions.
I do not want to be a flaky person who changes my mind at the drop of a hat.
I do not want to be so unconcerned about life and the world that I have no direction.
So how can I be concrete and committed to any decisions I make, knowing thay my plans and God’s plans for me, are not often the same?
I am wondering how committed a person has to be to the decisions they make.
(I am not talking about decisions like marriage, or other legal contracts one enters – the question here of what level of committment is required is obvious, and needs to be decided before the contract is made)
An example of what I don’t want to be like is this:
OK. I want to go an a diet. I have decided only to eat fruit and vegetables. This is my decision.
One day, suddenly, I come across the Confectionery Area in the Supermarket. Wow.
Look what God has given me! OK, there are lots of good things here. Surely God wants me to have these.
Eat away. Committment to diet – over.
This is what I don’t want to be.
To be specific with the actual problem I am trying to think about (all of the following uses the clause ‘God willing’):
- I am about to go back to Australia.
- For 1.5 years.
- I am hoping to come back to Japan.
- As a long term missionary.
- To work with young Japanese people.
So I am thinking, if I want to remain focused on this goal of serving God in Japan, then probably thinking about boys/boyfriends/marriage whilst I’m in Australia, will probably be a BIG distraction.
So should I make a decision to not go there (boys) while back in Aus?
I think that’s a good, practical idea.
But then, people keep telling me, but you don’t know what God will do, and who you will meet.
How committed should I be? If ‘cake’ suddenly comes along in the midst of my ‘diet’, I don’t want to forget about everything about my diet.
But at the same time as this, I know that I do not know what God has in store for me.
I mean, I guess, in the end, it comes down to prayer, and to trusting God in his control of my life – not stubbornly trying to do things my way, but in following Him.
But it is a really hard thing to do!
Does anyone have any advice on how to do this well????
4 Comments
July 12, 2008 at 4:55 am
I sympathise with your ponderings, I ponder them too. I don’t have anything very profound to say, but a missionary I met in Nigeria spent two years in Niger as a young single, rather reluctantly returned to Australia to complete one year of bible college with every intention to go back as a full time single missionary, but God intervened. Met her now husband on the first day of bible college, ended up doing a three year degree, staying in Aust for eight years..but is now a married with two kids full time missionary in Nigeria.
Anyway.. not saying this will happen to everyone but she thinks despite her personal goals and plans, God had better ones. I think it is ok to have plans in mind and be fairly committed to them but also to be open to God’s intervention.
July 12, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I’m with Joy on this one. Kudos for being upfront and honest; unfortunately, you know that for all our planning and desires to do what is “right” it doesn’t really allow for God to take us exactly where He wants us to go. Heck, if I had it my way, I’d already be in Japan.
I’ve still got 3 years before my plans take me to Japan and I’m dreading the thought that God might keep me here longer. Yet, at the end of the day, I look back at how my journey to Japan has been “stretched out” and I know that it’s for the better. I know that I’m a better person for it, better prepared for the work ahead, and most of all…at peace about it all.
Paul calls our lives a race, so with that in mind, run the race ahead of you, never look back to see who or what is behind you (distractions) but focus on what is ahead (the Cross). However, a person once said to me, at some point just have a look next to you and see who is running the same race and can keep up with you. You might be pleasantly surprised.
I think to have the resolve is a good thing and is something we should have, but don’t throw it all out the window. My, very long, two cents. =)
July 13, 2008 at 1:42 am
Mel, I appreciate your honesty so much. I have been stressing about this exact thing over the last few weeks, actually more specifically the last couple days, I wish we were in the same room and could have coffee.
I heard Ash Barker (Urban neighbours of hope) guy speak on Friday at a course i am doing and he was sharing about the girl/guy issue and then he share in his own life his wife was set on going to Haiti and he was going to China and they ended up serving in melbourne together and now live in a slum in Bangkok.
God guides and leads, “Man plans his way, but the Lord directs His steps”… what i am being challenged about at the moment is to make sure i am constantly reassessing my plans with where God is actually guiding me.
It’s tricky!!!
August 14, 2008 at 7:34 am
I stumbled upon your site from a link on msn. I think that you should take things as they come. It’s easy to diet in a famine, so they say
This analogy could apply to boys too.
But I have a question – why is the word ‘anal’ in the word ‘analogy’?