Too Many Choices On The Menu

My Utmost For His Highest

“As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and physically gratifying possibilities will open up before you. These things are yours by right, but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God make your choice for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the appropriate thing to consider, if you were not living the life of faith. But if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and allow God to make your choice for you. This is the discipline God uses to transform the natural into the spiritual through obedience to His voice. Whenever our right becomes the guiding factor of our lives, it dulls our spiritual insight. The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. In this passage, it would seem that the wisest thing in the world for Abram to do would be to choose. It was his right, and the people around him would consider him to be a fool for not choosing. Many of us do not continue to grow spiritually because we prefer to choose on the basis of our rights, instead of relying on God to make the choice for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eyes focused on God. And God says to us, as He did to Abram, “…walk before Me…” (Genesis 17:1).”  CHAMBERS

Most of the time, I edit the Chambers devotion down to a few quotes.  Points that I think  are at the core of his insights.  Today, I could see nothing that I could omit.  Probably because it speaks so directly to what God is doing in my life right now.  I am a man who has already had a lot of choices.  Some may see it as a blessing, I see it as a curse.  I have often said that the perfect restaurant would be one where I open the menu and there is one item on the drink menu, one item on the appetizer menu, one entrée and one desert.  Now some of you reading this would thinking .. “How boring”  But for me, I think “How simple”.  I have never found a restaurant like that.

If I can continue the menu analogy for a moment, I often ask the server what they would recommend.  Their recommendation would relieve me of the angst over making a choice.  There are just too many choices.  In the same way, we are faced with many choices in life.  Some are good .. some not so good .. but there is only one best … the choice of saying “yes” to God and doing what brings glory to Him and not merely pleasure to us.  You have to be paying attention to hear God speak.  And you have to be ready to do what makes no sense to a watching world .. because His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)  Right now, as I type this, I am in the middle of such a choice.  God is saying “do this” and I am saying .. but life would be a lot simpler if I didn’t.  People would not question my mental competence.  Can you think of a few people in the Bible who had their competence questioned when they followed God?  Yeah, I can too. 

Christians are faced with this challenge … pragmatism .. what is logical and right in the eyes of the world … versus faith and obedience .. making choices that may make no sense .. that are risky. …. Maybe foolish in the eyes of the world.  (1 Corinthians 2:14) Take a look at your life … what is your guide for the choices you make?  Do you first consider God’s direction or your comfort?  What is your primary motivation for all that you?  Is it to bring glory to God or to make your life more pleasurable and easier to live?  We all know what the “right” answer is.  The question is, “are we willing to make the right choice, to make the right move?”.  ELGIN

“ Every Move I Make” David Crowder

“ Every move I make, I make in You, You make me move Jesus Every breath I take I breathe in You Every step I take, I take in You Every breath I take I breathe in You.

Waves of mercy, Waves of grace. Everywhere I look I see your face Your love has captured me Oh, my God this love How can it be? How can it be Lord?”

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)