What on earth am I here for?

It seems that I am regularly talking to people who are confused about which step to take next.

Life is full of decisions and even as Christians the buffet of choices can be a bit overwhelming.

We pray and ask God to show us the next step and sometimes we feel He shows us, sometimes we feel like He’s withholding from us, and other times we feel He spoke but then circumstances get weird and we begin to second guess and question whether we really heard from God.

This little post isn’t meant to answer the question “How does God speak to us” and “how can we be sure it’s God”, but rather a different issue, but one that is of vital importance if we are ever going to get this “following God” thing right.

It has to do with our launch pad or starting point of decision making.

You see, most of us find ourselves in a situation where we are asking God to guide us and show us His will, but then we start weighing the options; Which choice has greater “earthly” benefit?

We all make decisions based on natural reason. Reason was given to us to operate on a daily basis, but if we are walking with Jesus then we have to be open to Him leading us in ways that don’t make sense. That’s where life moves from natural to supernatural, from just life to Life-to-the-Full.

Most of us look at a situation and say… Hmm, I should go to this school, because it offers this or that, or I should work at this job, because it pays more or has good benefits, or that couldn’t be God because it’s not a sure thing, it’s not a guarantee, or it doesn’t pay as much.

Here is where we miss it. We are asking the wrong question(s).

Do we really think God moves us to a place just to become informed, make money, get benefits, or because it’s a sure thing?

God’s ways, purposes, and plans are much higher than that.

What on earth am I hear for? NOT to get educated, NOT to make money, NOT to get good benefits, NOT to have it all and do it all. Material, Intellectual, and Ego gain are not high priority on God’s list.

Each of these (excluding unhealthy pride/ego) are a byproduct of following Jesus, but they are not THE POINT.

I don’t go to work to make money; I go to be a witness/missionary. God didn’t give me this job to make money or even make a living, He gave it to me as my mission and in doing it I will make money/a living.

God can send you anywhere to make money and get educated. In fact, He can do both these things without the aid of any man, so if we’re going to get better at this “following God” thing, then we must clear our vision from those things that are obstructing the view.

Jesus said, “31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:31-34

We are not to be trying to play God and figure it all out. We’re not to be trying to make sense of it all. That is great if we do understand and can see how it all works together and how it will work out, but we must learn to trust God and know that often times He leads us in ways we would never reason out for ourselves, because He is God and He knows factors that we do not.

We can trust that He is always desiring what is best for us, so though He plays outside the box of what we can understand in natural reason, we can understand one thing for certain… He loves us and wants what’s best for us and He knows what is best for us better than we do.

Jesus said that our launch pad for decision making is NOT earthly concerns/gain. Nor is our launch pad for decision making to be one based on worry (trying to be in control and figure it all out).

Instead THE launch pad for ALL decision making is “seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”.

There you go! That is it!!!! That’s is why we are here!!!!! This is the starting point of my decision making process!

I should pray and ask God where He wants me to God, what He wants me to do, and then watch… not to see which choice has greater earthly benefit from what I can see and understand, but rather to see which choice God is moving in.

Where do I see Him more at work? Where do I see my life having the biggest impact for His kingdom? Where do I see myself growing in Christ the most? Where do I see my life shining the biggest light for Jesus? Where do I see myself compromising, getting distracted, settling, or getting involved in a lifestyle or behavior that is not right in God’s eyes?

When we get our eyes on the things of this world as factors in our decision making we can miss what God wants. That is what the non-Christian world chases after and lives for. That is their ambition and priority. Not so for the Christ Follower.

In fact, Jesus warns us how the earthly things (though they are not evil or wrong in and of themselves) can blind us to God’s best or choke out God’s guidance in our life.

“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” Luke 8:14 and “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” Mark 4:19

Jesus said that the direction or message is given, but it is choked out, not heard, not clearly seen or understood, because of an earthly focus. As we get our focus on the worries of this life, riches, pleasures, and the desires for other things we get distracted or worse blinded and cannot see or hear clearly what God is saying and wanting to do.

So, let me say it this way…

You are NOT here on earth to build an earthly kingdom, for yourself or someone else. You are here to build an eternal kingdom.

The issue that gets so many Christians side tracked and confused on what God is leading them to do is that they get caught up in “seeking first their kingdom or the worlds kingdom and their happiness and provision and pleasure” instead of “seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”.

We don’t have to worry about chasing after/pursuing those things because Jesus makes it clear that all these things will be taken care of and given to us if we make our first priority His kingdom and His righteousness.

So, there you go. What launch pad are you starting your decision making process from… “What’s in it for me?” or “What’s in it for God?” Do I put my trust in what I can figure out and understand and make happen and control, or will I put my trust in God, even when his infinite wisdom and purpose doesn’t fit in my finite understanding, reason, and plans.

Only one launch pad is the right one. Only one launch pad will produce the results and kind of life that Scripture describes for the believer.

What will you choose? How will you look at things (from God’s perspective or earth bound perspectives)? How will you reason out situations? What approach with capture your heart and mind? What will you be caught up in?

SPIN

Right now in our American News Culture we have a phenomenon, which has been going on for millennia, but has recently been given a name… Spin.

Spin is where you can take any given situation and turn it in such a way as to serve your particular agenda, for good or bad. And so you have republicans against democrats, conservatives against liberals each spinning what one another says and does, each spinning current local, national, and world events to serve their agenda.

So, the question… Who is right?

How do we figure it out?

Here’s what we need to understand… there always has been and always will be a spin on things, because spin is simply perspective.

There is a spin for every people group, social, economic, religious, political, you name it.

Everyone has some kind of foundation they are building off of when it come to perspective. Whether is upbringing and parental influence, peer pressure, education, personal life experiences the point is we have these factors that helped us develop perspectives about things and those factors cause us to each perceive situations and topics differently than others.

So, what do we do?

Choose!

We must choose our foundation from which we will interpret life. Or better said, we must pick what shade of glasses we want to look at life through. This in turn will cause us to interpret life and all it’s issues with a certain spin.

For some of us we will have experiences that will cause the shade of our glasses to change slightly or severely and thus we will have a new spin on life.

My input… Start with the beginning… go back to the Creator and his operation manual, history of engagement, record of intent (The Bible) whatever you want to call it. Cooperate with God instead of resisting.

You can choose to try some other way and have a different spin on life, but my experience and my understanding of God’s word have shown all other ways to be far short of God’s best for each of our lives.

Just understand… having a change of internal beliefs means nothing if we don’t apply it. If it doesn’t change our life is it really real?

To many people decide, “Okay, I’ll believe in Jesus and go to church”, but then find it to still be empty, miserable, and really no easier or enjoyable than what they had… it’s because they’ve simply embraced Jesus as a religion… a hobbie… an addition to their pre-existing lifestyle, rather than as a whole new way of life. They’re still trying to hold on to the old and the new at the same time, and this won’t work, it’ll just leave you hurt, confused, and miserable, just as if you were trying to go North and South at the same time… can’t do it.