It has become my daughter’s habit to create these perfect (to her) little scenarios of how she wants a certain day or weekend to go. The problem is, she doesn’t take the ideas and choices of others into consideration. Recently, as we were coming home from spending time with my parents (celebrating my Dad’s birthday), my son decided to grab my wife’s cell phone and call his Gram (his maternal grandmother) to see if he could spend the following night with her. The problem with this scenario was, it wasn’t a part of my daughter’s weekend plans. Her goal was to sleep late, go shopping for a specific piece of clothing the next day, and do whatever her heart desired over her long weekend. She was given the choice to go to her grandparents as well but her F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out) was preventing her from making a concrete decision. Eventually, the decision was made for her and she wasn’t happy with the outcome. Our goal with our children is not to make them miserable. Actually, just the opposite. We want them to have a joyful life. But we also realize, reality isn’t always roses, white picket fences, and the perfect scenarios we create in our heads. The reality is, sometimes things turn out (though we have good intentions) negatively. Some things are simply out of our control.
Life is full of dominoes. Every choice we make causes a ripple affect in the tapestry of our lives. If we make good decisions (in most cases), good things will come. If we make a bad decision….well….you get the idea. Every decision sends the dominoes falling in one direction or another. And sometimes, life just takes unexpected twists and turns, the decisions are made for us. The word of God is full of principles on the importance of making good choices. Scriptures like Prov 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Or, Prov 18:13, “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him.” And Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Or even Rev 3:15-16, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” God has a plan for our lives and it will always come to pass if we listen and follow his directions. Personally, I don’t believe God frets over whether we choose to eat grits, toast, cereal or a combination of the three in the mornings for breakfast. But there are certain crossroads we will all approach where we need to listen and discern what God is directing us to do. It’s as simple as: pray, listen, & execute.
Closing remarks and encouragement: We have decisions to make almost every moment of our lives. It’s not something that should stress us out. That still small voice of the Holy Spirit will always guide us, if we will listen. Simply, “…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt 6:33
Have a blessed week, my friends!
Photo by Marco Lermer on Unsplash