conflicted or confident

Choose today to be confident not conflicted.

I've been struck over and over for quite awhile now by the weight of choices...both of their importance and how they can burden us.

I see so many taken down by the burden of choices, being afraid to make the wrong one, insecure in the ability to make the right one, conflicted between options. Tossed. Sincere, genuine souls pulled back and forth. Unstable.

Yet those of us in Christ, have been given the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). And I'm confident He is not surprised or ambivalent when it comes to what we face. And I'm confident that He is confident.

So where can we find the courage to let our "yes be yes" and our "no be no" (James 5:12)?

I believe a huge key to freeing us from the burden of choices is grasping more fully the weight of their importance. It may seem contradictory, but I truly believe realizing the incredible impact of our choices frees us from entanglement with lesser motivations so our hearts and minds are captivated by the greater.

So instead of living to please people (which is an impossible goal, because you will never make everyone happy), you can live to please the Lord. And it is our faith that pleases the Lord (Hebrews 11:6). It is through faith that we are made righteous (Genesis 15:6).

So instead of living in the fear of man and getting tangled up (Proverbs 29:25), I will choose today to live fearing the Lord, choosing to believe what He says is true above what I feel, knowing that this pleases Him...that I please Him.

And even in the midst of uncertainty and what seem to be the darkest of times, He is there and if He but speaks your name, child of God, you will hear it and know it is Him (John 20:16). I was worried about missing God's direction one time and a dear lady asked, "Are you His child?" I nodded yes. She said, "Child of God, you are His sheep, and so you know His voice." (John 10:27)

The Lord sets before me and before you, in this very moment, life and death. And He beckons us to choose life so that we may live (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). To live, in His love and so walking with him, obeying Him and clinging to Him...this is life! And if I choose life, then those following after me, in my steps, will be free to live too. Because the weight of my choices don't just impact me, they impact those my life touches.

Choices either lead towards life or death. There is no neutral.

Yet with your gaze set securely on life, on Jesus, you can soar! You can run (not falter, not trip, not get pulled side to side) with endurance the race set before you (Hebrews 12:1).

Not that you will always be going fast, in fact rest is a very biblical and Godly thing I'm just now beginning to grasp. In fact, even now I'm in another country here to lead mission trips for a month...but I'm in bed, at the house, not with the team, resting to recover from strep.

But you will stand. Firm. Confident. Resolute. Not in yourself, in pride, in stubbornness. But in complete dependence on Him, sure that He is good and only does good.

And when you hear the voice of the Lord, don't retract. Don't change your mind, having stepped out by faith. Even now, I could pound these computer keys typing in defiance to the doubt and lies that have questioned what the Lord has spoken to me and those I love. He is not confused. He is not bound by what we can see. Child of God, you are in Christ. Choose today to be confident not conflicted.

Godly counsel is still good, rest is still good, it's still alright if you need time in making a decision, unconfessed sin or unforgiveness can still impair your ability to hear the voice of the Lord...and many other things from the whole counsel of Scripture are important in these scenarios.

I'm just so burdened by children of God either lacking confidence and being tossed around conflicted or flippantly thinking that choices have no consequences.

Life and death are set before you today. Choose life, that you may live (Deuteronomy 30:19) and live it to the full (John 10:10)! By faith so you can be confident, with your eyes locked on Jesus!