Permission to Live, Sir?
New Year’s Day is a time to consider changes in one’s life – resolutions, that sort of thing. Change is necessary from time to time, so with the start of the new year, here’s a thought on change:
Sometimes we need permission to reach for a better life. We can see it in front of us, but there might be a risk. If it’s a financial or a health risk, the tradeoffs are usually clear, or at least calculable. But for bigger risks, such as a complete life change, the tradeoffs are frequently harder to compute. To switch from being an employee to an entrepreneur; from a lawyer to a missionary, or from a doctor to a minister – these are big changes that could drain off life savings and leave the family destitute. But on the other hand, if you’re truly miserable in your current career, that’s not a good life to be in, and perhaps you’re driven to make the change.
The strange thing about Christians is that we are willing to live such a strangled existence. Is it because we’re change-averse? Or do we tell ourselves that we might not exactly like what we’ve got, but at least we’ve got something – which we might not have if we make a change? Or is it because we know how to do what we do today, but we don’t know if we will be able to do all of what we would need to do if we change? Or is it that we’ve got seniority with the current job, but we’d have to start all over again in another one? Or is it just the money? Probably bits of all of the above.
Seems to me that the question for us as Christians is, “Do you believe in God? And do you believe He wants us to live the best life possible?” If no, then what is it that makes you say you’re a Christian? But if yes, then there are adventures and risks ahead – they come with changes and Life.
For all of our lives, most churches have left most of us with this impression:
“Christ is wonderful, but we’ve got a life to live here.”
But that’s not what the Bible says. It says,
“Christ is wonderful and we’ve got a Life to live, here!”
What a difference a conjunction makes!
Mike
Dave Travis
Rose
Thanks for this great synopsis. (BTW, “No Name” near bottom of your list was Mel Lawrenz, Elmbrook...
January 2nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
“And” has always been one of my favorite conjunctions…
) before making these risk-taking decisions, then I am acting on presumption, with my own will as my idol. (Saul found out the hard way…) And once I have gotten a sense of what I believe God’s will is about the situation, if I am not willing to proceed by faith, asking Him to show me His next step and His timing (or at least start by praying, “Lord, make me willing to be made willing”), then I am wallowing in the sin of unbelief, and will not enter into what His love has planned for me. (Heb 3:15-19)
I agree, there are always adventures and risks in change… (and the scary thing is that God’s definition of a “better life” for an individual is often different from that person’s own definition – Is. 55:8-9… but we have to trust His love, His wisdom, and His timing.)
Seems to me the deeper crux of the issue is, “Do I pray about what _God’s_ will is concerning these possible changes, and _am I willing to do whatever He asks_ (“Not my will, but Thine be done…”), once I understand what He’s asking? (Proceeding by faith, enabled by His strength, and realizing that God often asks us to walk uncomfortably off our map to get to His new thing for our lives, and He often only shows us one step at a time without showing us the final destination, and sometimes His directions seem insane… like Gideon and his 300 men, or Moses trotting to Egypt to tell Pharaoh to let a few million slaves go free, or Ananias going to pray for the previously fire-breathing Saul of Tarsus after his Damascus Road event…)
If I don’t seek His guidance, especially on the larger issues (as opposed to “Do I have porridge with Lyle’s for breakfast, or do I have it with brown sugar?
Yes, Messiah Jesus IS wonderful, and He gives us permission to live Life here! L’chaim!!!