Are you willing to swim against the flow?

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.  As many of you know it is the day celebrating the Triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem.  People welcomed him as he rode in on a donkey (which many scholars will tell you that they are not sure that it really was a donkey that he rode on), they waved palm branches in a welcoming gesture as they yelled, "Hosanna in the highest."  Talk about a wonderful welcome.  But Jesus knew what the next full week would bring and it was nothing like the welcome he received that day.  Things would turn sour, and fast.  The same crowds that yelled the happy, joyful welcomes of above would soon yell "crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Talk about an about face.  Talk about going along with the crowd.  My dad used to ask me in high school, "if your best friend jumped off of a bridge would you do it too?"  Well of course I wouldn't, that would just be foolish.  I think the point that he was trying to make was if everyone else does a certain thing, will you?  In the story of the Holy week I wonder how many people just followed the crowd because they were too afraid to stand up for what they truly believed.

What about the many people that just happened to be there that week and watch the scene unfold. Here's how I see in my mind the story of one fictional person:  Usually there is not that much excitement in Jerusalem but today there is something big going on so I am going to follow the crowd and see what the fuss is all about.  Hey look, it's that Jesus.  He's the one that everyone has been talking about.  He sure is a kind man....a good man.  Why are the religious leaders treating him this way?  I like what he believes and teaches.  I mean I was the one that laid down the cloak for him when he rode into town.  Why are they hurting him?  I follow the crowd further as they take him to 

Pontius Pilate.  Surely he will set him free, for he has done nothing wrong.  The crowd begins to get antsy.  They begin to yell things that I don't like.  I'm here in the middle.  If I don't comply they may arrest me, they may hurt me.  I believe what this Jesus is saying but I can't afford to be put in jail over one man.  So I join in the crowd and I scream, "crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Everyone is doing it so they must be right.  "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!"  I have a sick feeling in my stomach as I yell it but there's no turning back now.  We head to where the crosses will be put.  Everyone is laughing and mocking Jesus.  So I do too.  It feels kind of good to be a part of the "in" crowd.  I've never felt this type of comradery before.  And then......Jesus dies.  The ones who I thought would be my buddies since we shared this common idea are now laughing and dispursing to who knows where.  I am left looking up at the Jesus that less than a week ago I welcomed and now betrayed.  I feel disgusted with myself and can do nothing about it.  Jesus is dead and I attributed to his death.  What have I done?  What have I done?  Was it that important for me to follow the crowd?  

If I knew then what I know now I would realize that the crowd wasn't that great to follow.  Why didn't I stick up for Jesus?  Even if it meant going to jail.  Why didn't I just not yell those horrible things?  I knew deep down that the "crowd" would turn on me in an instant if need be but I just had to be a part of it.  I just had to fit in.  It doesn't feel so good now.  I have to go home and tell my family that I betrayed the only man that could have saved the world--the man that we joyfully welcomed to town just a few days earlier. 

Sadly, in this day and age, we often do the same thing.  Oh we don't yell "crucify Him!" and watch him die a slow death, but we follow the crowd.  At work we may go along with the crass joking or mocking of Christians just so we don't have to "get into it" with someone.  At school we make sure no one knows that we are Christians and just go with the flow.  We see Christians being pushed around and made fun of but we don't stick up for them because that wouldn't be the popular thing to do.  We have to admit that oftentimes we go along with the crowd.

I want to challenge you this Holy Week to go against the flow.  I remember a t-shirt my husband had where there where tons of fish swimming in one direction and one that swam in the opposite.  Will you be that fish?  Will you go against the crowd and follow Jesus no matter what the cost?

Making Godly Decisions

If you follow my blog at all, you will have probably noticed that the last couple of weeks I have been fairly quite in posting.  Has she gone rogue?  Has she quite blogging?  Has she gotten lazy?  Is she just too busy?  The answer to those is no.  My husband and I have been making many big decisions and then working out the details of those.  Who knew that making a decision could be that big of a deal.  But many times it is.  For us, this was a life changer—not only for us but also for those we work with and those we serve.  We made the decision to step down from our work as full-time missionaries. 

This is a decision that was not made lightly.  All of us have to make daily decisions.  Some of these will be the biggies and others will not be considered as life changing.  To each one of us because they are our decisions to make they are important.  Whatever decision is yours to make today I want to share some of the ways that we worked through making our decision in hopes that it might give you some assistance as you walk through your journey of decision making.

1.  Seek the Lord in Prayer:

Philippians 4:6 (ESV) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

It’s really hard to not feel anxious about making a decision but by giving it too God in prayer it makes a difference knowing that He is in control of the situation.  It’s a great reminder to turn that anxiety we feel into communication with God.  We began asking God what he would have us do.  We asked him to show us very specifically certain things: to show us in any way if our spirits were in conflict with his will and to open and close doors.  When we ask for the Lord’s help in making a decision we not only recognize him to be in the place of Lordship where he should be but we are reminded daily that He is in control and we are not.

2.  Seek Godly counsel:

Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) Where there is no guidance,

a people falls, but in an abundance of

counselors there is safety

We have two couples that have walked with us in our decision making process.  Early on we went to them and asked them to “check us”.  We wanted to make sure in our decision that we were truly listening to the Lord and not to what WE thought.  They spent time praying for us and asking God to give us wisdom and to take any blinders off of our eyes that might be there.  They met with us and talked through things, ideas, options, etc….  It’s important to have Godly Christian friends to walk through life with you.

3.  Make a list of pros and cons:

Proverbs 18:13 (NIV)

To answer before listening—

that is folly and shame.

Get out a piece of paper and make your list.  On one side put your pros and the other side put your cons.  If you are not a paper person then do these things in your mind.  You’re thinking about it anyway so the things that come to your mind put them in right side of your mental list.  The questions to ask might be:  Am I being obedient to the plan God has for me? How is this going to affect me personally?  How will this affect my family?  How will this affect other people?  How will this affect our finances?  How will this affect where we live?  Is this physically doable?  Of course there are many other questions to help guide you in your list but these are just a few to get you started.  Like the scripture says, you don’t want to make a quick decision before you have prayed through and thought through things.  The last thing you want to be labeled as what the Bible would say “a fool.”

4.  Know your options:

Proverbs 16:9  (ESV) The heart of man plans his way,

but the Lord establishes his steps

If you are at all like me you like to have options.  You like to work a plan.  When making a decision to buy a washing machine we made sure that we had options to choose from.  Obviously, in the decision that we just made it’s hard to have concrete options.  However, we did think about what they could be.  Would we be able to find a job as a senior pastor in the U.S.?  Probably.  Are we marketable in any way?  Yes.  Would we be willing to work at a fast food restaurant if we needed to?  Yes.  The main thing in making decisions is that we can plan things out but ultimately God establishes our steps.

In making decisions a lot of it comes down to the question of how much we trust God to be God and to do what he said that he would do.  We made a decision to step down from missions.  Many have asked us if we have something lined up.  The answer?  Nope.  This is where I have to go back to the first scripture about not be anxious about anything and just praying.  Did I say it before?  Praying. Pray, pray and when you are done, pray some more.

May God bless you and walk with you as you make those tough decisions in life.