Why do we seek direction so much. It seems like we worry so often about whether or not we are going in the”correct” direction. I do not mean (in the Christian/religious sense) whether or not we are doing the right thing in a situation, but rather when it comes to a choice that has no real bearing on right and wrong. A good example is what college a student goes to. If given the choice between two equally good schools of a similar cost, I have still seen people struggle over where to go. Obviously there are social/geographical things to consider. “Will I fit in?” “Am I going to be too far from home?” Many times though I see Christians studying this from a standpoint of Will. When I say will I mean the desire to be going where God would have us, not where we want to go. It seems that we believe or are at least concerned that everything we do has a specific direction that God wants us to go in. I am not totally convinced that this is actually true.
I could even extend this out into the region of dating and marriage. Does it ever really say in the Bible that God specifically had a plan for each person and who they might marry? It says he has plans for us, but that can be taken a few ways. I could have a plan for a person as it relates to how they will develop as an employee at my company, but that doesn’t mean I have a plan for what shirt they wear to work. God may have a plan that he wants us to follow, and it certainly can in individual situations mean going to a certain place, doing a certain thing, or marrying a specific person, but does he always plan those things for everyone? If God in his plan for my life has determined that he has 25 specific things for me to do, obviously with the rest of my time I would still try to serve him and honor him, but how specific does that need to be.
If I was offered a job that paid really well and a job that paid less well and could find no significant differences other than that on the outside how do I choose. Well for me, being that I enjoy having the occasional dollar to spend, would probably choose the job that paid more. For the moment lets ignore the motivation of money (ill tackle that in another post). What is going to tell me which job I should have taken? Obviously we can tell when God has something for us to do. I say obviously but I think most people understand that sometimes God does communicate with us and gives us guidance. Other times we can use scripture to tell what we should do. If one job was stealing credit card numbers and the other was stopping someone from stealing credit card numbers the choice is simple, thou shalt not steal. Life is very rarely that simple. I have been in many situations where I have to make a choice that I am not getting a specific direction on. It then requires that I make an independent decision. Assuming that I have free will (Calvinist need not apply) and that I wasn’t destined to make the choice that I made, decision making at times seems like it could be arbitrary. We have moral guidelines but we don’t get a specific step by step for life. Unless I am reading the wrong book the bible does not say go to A do B then go to C. I would hate that to be honest. What I conclude from this, and many will probably disagree, is that God leaves some choices to us. I doubt God has a plan for what shirt I wear tomorrow, not because he doesn’t care but because it wont have any impact on what happens in my life tomorrow. Now occasionally God might have something specific for me to I wear, but for the most part it sure doesn’t seem like it. He wants a degree of modesty and he clearly doesn’t want me to do anything to disgrace him, but beyond that it seems like its my choice.
This has a lot of implications in a few areas that I feel are somewhat interesting. The first is “what do I do with my life?” Obviously God cares very much what we do with our lives, but to what degree. Did he specifically plan that I would be a computer professional? For many years I wanted to be a pastor, which to many is a much more noble calling, so does that mean that I am now walking outside his will? At the time I chose to go into the computer industry I did very little consulting with God about the matter, and yet it seems to have had a great impact over the course of my life. Did God simply use what I chose and adjust his plan to work with that? I do think that God knows what we are going to do so this seems like he could have made a plan based on what he knew was going to happen. We have the ability to walk outside God’s will and to sin so it seems like perhaps God is being preemptively adaptive by making plans for us around what we choose to be. This obviously can go a bit more smoothly if we consult him and try to see parts of what his plan might be.
Another big implication on this is the whole dating/marriage thing. If we choose to date or marry someone do we need to consider if that is the person God has planned for us to marry? Obviously God needs to be an integral part of the relationship and how to conduct it, but how involved is he in whether or not we involve ourselves with a particular someone? I do think God chooses for some of us to not marry (1 Cor. 7 1-3). It makes sense then that he might plan that some of us do marry, after all we do need to procreate to survive. God occasionally will pick someone specific he wants us to marry (Hosea, entire book). Many times though it seems a decision we make wholly on our own. I think this is better for us in many ways and protects us from fooling ourselves. I have seen many relationships where people thought that “God had made them for each other” totally collapse when they realized that perhaps things might be a little difficult and that destiny wasn’t just going to fulfill itself. They were fooled into thinking this because their emotionally attachment to each other convinced them that they should be together. Many people are also attracted to this idea because it seems romantic, and yet when a teacher pairs of kids in class to work together there seems to be a totally different sentiment.
The last area this really impacts in my eyes is major purchases that we make. What house do I buy, what car do I drive, can I get that bigger TV or is that a sin. Ignoring motivation for now (greed, pride) is it wrong to buy something because I enjoy it. At the most basic level the answer is clearly no. If two sandwiches cost the same and are about equally healthy does it matter which one I buy? The answer is no. A more interesting question that I will ignore is do we have a responsibility to always try to make the healthiest choices that we can? What if the two sandwiches were different in price? One is $5 and the other is $7 but the one that cost $7 tastes much better. Is it a sin for me to buy that sandwich since I could have donated those $2 to a much more noble cause? The same applies a house or a car the same way. This is one place where I do wonder a bit about luxury, should we be indulging ourselves as much as we are. I don’t NEED cable, but I sure would like to have it. I tackle this idea later as well. For now in this thought, I assume that it is in fact OK barring any external motivators, if all else is equal, then it looks like I get to pick.
This is what I can conclude so far, and I will quote from Job 23:8-14 , “Behold I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive Him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.” What I get from this, is that we must be diligent to stay in the guidelines we do have. We must value above all else what we have learned from him. If we do this then we can be sure to be used by him and to be within his will. This probably isn’t absolutely right as I am sure I have missed something. For those interested the verse continues with a few more interesting points about the idea, but I didn’t feel a need to add them here.
To wrap up this first true post I should clarify many things which I should have said before. I am simply getting my thoughts out about different things. It is key to keep in mind that thought doesn’t always equal a core belief. Just because I post an idea on something doesn’t mean that I think I am right or that I have a good solution, I am just getting what is going on in my mind out, so I can perhaps start to find a conclusion. I may wind up not even agreeing with what I post in the long run, ill try to clarify as I can, but prepare for disappointment on that front. However God has gifted us all with the ability to ask kind questions, so feel free to ask away if you see something that is wrong in your eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment