jennifer-roberts I was awakened early this morning by my family’s clatter as they prepared to go on a golf outing. I am a light sleeper and despite their best efforts, I was roused before 6:00 a.m.
I do not golf and had plans of my own to visit my local farmer’s market. Last night I even perused the extensive list of vendors and was impressed with the variety of wares. I had my reusable totes ready to receive any goodies that might catch my eye.
However, as I prepared my coffee, I began thinking about why I wanted to go to the farmer’s market. I thought to myself, “I don’t need anything. No one is expecting me to be there. So why am I planning to go? Why do I want to go?”
God quickly gave me the answer to these questions. He said, “You want to go because that’s what you usually do. Shopping is your default setting. It’s comfortable. You love it. It’s always an option and you are accustomed to doing it. You love to shop and you’re addicted to the idea of being able to shop. You don’t need to shop today, and you may not even want to shop today but your mind is programmed to shop.”
As I sat with my thoughts and sipped my coffee, I considered the answer that God had so generously given me. It wasn’t the first time He’d shared this with me, and I was grateful for the gentle reminder.
I know that to get a different result in life I must make different choices, but these can be difficult and feel impossible especially when I am are staring common situations and temptations in the face. More often than I’d like, I succumb to temptation or make the routine choice that I usually make. It’s like an involuntary reflex or automatic setting that kicks in with no invitation or prompting. It’s just there.
Earlier this year I listened to a powerful sermon on YouTube by Bishop T.D. Jakes entitled, “There’s Nothing as Powerful as a Changed Mind.” During part of the message, Bishop Jakes shared how our minds are programmed to behave in a preset way like a computer’s default or automatic settings. When I heard this, I instantly made the connection to myself and the way that I operate. He reminded me that I have the power to change my mind if I am willing to change the default settings by which I live my life. And you can do the same.
Most situations in which we need to change our default settings are not monumental. They are ordinary, routine occurrences in which we have to choose how we react. They are so routine that sometimes they are unrecognizable. It may be our food choices, how we spend our free time or how we interact with our families.
We may not be able to control the circumstance, but we can control our response to the circumstance. We can make a different choice instead of doing what we usually do. Many of the choices you make may be from a default mindset. You just do what you normally do. You react how you normally react.
For me, these automatic choices often revolve around making purchases as this is an area in which I struggle. I must intentionally and repetitively give myself time and space to not just react from my default but to process why I am making the choice to buy something and to evaluate if it’s the best choice at that time. “Do I need it or do I simply want it? Why do I want it? Do I want it because I am afraid of missing out or that I won’t be able to purchase it in the future? Am I supposed to be shopping right now? Where am I going to put it in my home? Do I have space for it in my closet? I encourage you to ask yourself the same types of questions as they pertain to your life. Your hones answers may help you to make better decisions.
We make hundreds of decisions every single day; many without even realizing it. Every spirit-led decision that we make helps us to fulfill our kingdom purpose while very flesh-driven decision that we make moves us further away it. We can use this as a barometer when faced with situations and temptations.
Before making a choice that you usually make, ask yourself, “Is eating this donut moving me closer to my kingdom purpose or pushing me farther away? Is ignoring my child’s destructive behavior to keep the peace moving me closer to my kingdom purpose or pushing me farther away? Is sleeping with this person moving me closer to my kingdom purpose or pushing me farther away? Is listening to that song or watching that show moving me closer to my kingdom purpose or pushing me farther away?”
It can be easy to lose sight of our purpose because we can’t see the big picture and often times don’t even know what the big picture looks like because God hasn’t revealed it to us. It’s when we exercise child-like faith and obedience that the picture that is our life slowly starts to come together.
Imagine God handing you a large, clear food storage bag containing 5,000 tiny puzzle pieces. There’s no box with a picture on it of what the puzzle will look like when it is done. It’s just you, the table, the clear bag, the puzzle pieces and God. He tells you to dump all the pieces out on to an empty table. You look quizzically at the pile of tiny pieces and wait. God begins to give you instructions on where to place each piece and for a while you listen and obey but become frustrated with the painstaking process.
“God, this is taking too long and it doesn’t make sense; it doesn’t’ even look right,” you complain.
God lovingly says, “I understand. Trust me. Listen to and obey my directions.”
You pick up a new piece or it might even be a familiar piece and start again but soon grown weary with God’s approach. You stop listening and begin rummaging through the pile placing pieces where you think they should go. While you are doing this you notice that you can’t hear God but you know He’s still there.
You ask, “God, where are you, why aren’t you helping me? Why’d you stop talking. This is hard and it still doesn’t make any sense.”
God responds, “I’m right here. I didn’t stop talking. You stopped listening. When you are ready to receive my help, I will happily give it to you.”
Our lives are like the tiny pieces of that 5,000-piece puzzle scattered in this big, open world. We can see the various pieces of our lives like our relationship with God, our educational choices, careers, families, marriages, children and recreational opportunities but we don’t know how they will all fit together, and we cannot see the big picture because God hasn’t shown us. We can easily grow frustrated because of our limited vision and insight or we can choose to trust the puzzle maker, our loving and omnipotent God to help us assemble the puzzle His way. The latter choice takes trust and obedience.
God tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you…” He doesn’t say, “Here’s the whole plan, go work it yourself.” Wouldn’t it be so much easier if he just told us the plan or at least showed us the plan? I’ve often thought this to myself. But His ways are very different than ours and His plan requires obedience and trust especially when life doesn’t make sense.
I believe that when God gives us moments of reflection like the one He gave me this morning, He is presenting an opportunity to make a spiritual decision that has the power to propel us toward our kingdom purpose.
Each decision is a like a single piece of the puzzle that is our lives. In the moment, the decision to follow God doesn’t seem huge or even significant but it’s in these small, daily decisions to listen and obey that we build strong, spiritual muscles.
What is God leading you to or pulling you away from? In what ways do you need to change your default settings? How is God inviting you today to operate in your kingdom purpose?
