I grew up in church. My dad was my pastor, and I was raised according to biblical principles and standards. As I got older and began to meet different people from various backgrounds, especially in college, I realized how protected my life had been. I had always been surrounded by people who put God first in their lives, making His Word their standard. It was quite unsettling when I saw how many people believed in God, but didn’t want to make Him their Lord. The reason that prevailed among most of these individuals was the fear of what they would be giving up to become Christian. The fear of what they couldn’t see in a future with God kept them in their current, more tangible conditions and lifestyles. The idea of “evidence of things not seen” was too hard to grasp. The obvious choice that had been so early instilled in me was the primary hindrance for so many people in coming to Christ. Admittedly, I felt sorry for these people, even pitied them. Who wouldn’t choose the God who gave them their very existence? He promised life more abundantly than any life we may have experienced before Him. It was all beyond my comprehension until I realized the paralyzing potential of fear.
Once I understood that God had invested gifts and talents in me, I was so grateful to be living with purpose that I wanted be used wherever I could. The more I continued to use my talents for Him, the more He blessed them and increased me. This increase included a higher level of responsibility and accountability, and I began to see more clearly that the more work I did for God’s Kingdom, the more my life became an example to other people, both saved and unsaved. With each level of spiritual promotion, I felt that my life was less and less for me and more for others. This frightened me. I became afraid to fully pursue God because of how much of myself, my own desires, and my own dreams I would have to forgo. Plus, I was so embedded with scripture phrases (though not accurate scriptures) reminding me that I was “bought with a price” and “not my own.” I thought that the more I worked in my gifting, the further it pushed me away from the things I wanted for myself. The same fear that I had been so judgmental of in unbelievers had now crippled me and stunted my spiritual growth. When I thought that this was my only choice, to live fully for God and forfeit my life’s ambitions, I was devastated. But I loved God and I knew that He deserved my all, even if it meant the loss of my goals and aspirations. So, in a very tearful prayer, I surrendered.
Prayer is powerful and completely transforming. Going into this prayer of submission, I was ignorant and confused, but my heart was sincere in pursuit of more of God; thankfully He already knew and was ready to receive me. In those moments alone with Him, He reminded me of His will for me, not just His plan of how to use me as a light to others, but His promises concerning me and my hopes and my heart’s desires. His plans are to give me a hope and a future. Delighting myself in Him guarantees the desires of my heart. Seeking Him first only adds to me. He also made me to understand another aspect of His complete will for me and anyone who has made Him their Lord. The privilege of choice is a gift that God intended for each of us to enjoy from the beginning. In the original plan, the choice between life with or without God was never meant to be. Sin separates us from God and has done so since it entered the Garden of Eden. Because we live in a world where sin exists, the first choice that we can make that has any lasting value is to choose life in Christ. This was a choice we should never have had to make, and because God loves us so much, he instructs us very specifically: “Choose life!”
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
Deuteronomy 30:19
After we choose Him, His Holy Spirit resides in us and we have access to His perfect will. Before the entrance of sin into the earth, the gift of choice was present in the Garden of Eden. God created Heaven and Earth, saw all that He had made, and declared that it was very good. He then formed Adam and gave him choices. Adam got to decide what food he wanted to eat, what to name every animal, even what creature he though was most suitable for companionship. In a world of perfection, God still allowed man the right to choose. And in God’s perfect will, our only choices are between very good and very good. Once we make the initial choice to move from fear into faith, if we will allow Him, God promises to always move us from faith to faith.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
Romans 1:17
As I remembered my prior ignorance and fears, I was so encouraged. God not only created all things for me to enjoy, but also cares about my personal preferences. The idea that I had to choose between God and my personal happiness was absurd. It suggested that God was insufficient and I was settling for His plans for me. I had compared my limited thinking to a boundless God. What a mistake! What I like, my favorite things and my heart’s desires are important to Him, and He makes provisions for me to obtain them. I don’t have to think and wonder if this is the Lord’s will for me anymore; I know it according to His word. This is all part of the abundant life that Christ died for. This knowledge opened doors in my thinking and tore down barriers that I didn’t even know existed in my mind. Satan wanted to rob me of this breakthrough and his weapon of choice was fear. On the other side of fear, God is always waiting with another level of Himself that He wants to reveal to you. Satan understands that every level of knowledge and spiritual growth is a threat to his kingdom. The enemy knows the potential of fear and attempts to instill fear in us hoping to keep us from obtaining all that God has promised. Fear is not of God, and He has given us power and authority to dispel this spirit.
“For God has not given the spirit of fear; but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7
The knowledge of God’s will for me concerning choice was a breakthrough in my life and my understanding of it was critical to the success of my next level in Him. Are there any areas where fear has paralyzed you? Examine your life for any instance or situation where your spiritual growth may be stunted. Ask God to reveal these areas to you. The tools and weapons you need for the success of your next level await you beyond that fear. God wants to reveal more of Himself to you. Recognize any fear as a device of the enemy and reclaim that territory for God’s purpose in your life.
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