I read a blog post today that really got me thinking about decisions and choices, you can read it HERE. We make a lot of decisions in our life. Little decisions and big ones. Sometimes we make the right ones. But sometimes we make wrong ones too.
I’ve been known to be terrible at decision making. You give me a choice I will always answer with “I don’t know” or “It doesn’t matter” or something along those lines. People know that if they need a quick decision, then not to ask me!
When I’m faced with a decision, particularly a big one that involves my life or a choice that involves others, I freeze. I see the thousands of possibilities swirling around me and then I feel the fear of not making the right choice. I’m worried I will disappoint someone, I will make a fool of myself, or I will fail. I’m afraid of all these things happening to me. So I freeze. Stuck, paralyzed by indecision.
And that’s one of the worst places to be.
When you’re stuck or paralyzed, you don’t move forward or backwards. You’re in exactly the same place because you’re scared that that step forward you just took will take you two steps back. But even if it did take you two steps back, at least you would still be moving. And you would then know what you needed to change in order to go forward.
I’ve been stuck in the same place many times because I’m afraid to move. If I move, then I’m open, I’m vulnerable. If I move, the unknown awaits me. And that’s enough to keep my feet firmly planted.
But can I really afford not to move?
It may be scary, I may fall, I may even make the wrong decision. But I have to move forward.
"Go back?" He thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" Bilbo from the Hobbit page 69.
We can only keep moving. We have to be wise about the decisions we make. Sometimes God tells us to stay where we are for a reason. But that reason is never fear. If the only reason you are not moving is because of your fear then maybe you are meant to move on.
I believe that God doesn’t want us to be afraid. We’re so scared of falling that we won’t even take a step. Like a baby learns to walk, so we learn to walk in faith. We may fall a few times but we have to get back up.
Philippians 3:13-14, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Let’s keep moving on. Moving ahead. Seeking God with everything we have. Don't let fear stop you from stepping out. We can't let our fear of making the wrong choice stop us from making choices at all.
 |
| Is the fear of the unknown water keeping us on the shore? |
