Please excuse me while I remind myself of something.

We are trying to make a decision right now. It's not life or death, but this decision has the potential to make life a bit more stressful. The right choice isn't terribly obvious and so we are praying and using every ounce of common sense God has given us to make the best choice possible. I'm not one to "hang out" in the valley of decision. I get annoyed by people who wishy wash around on decisions. Ya know, often times the seemingly most obvious sensible choice is staring them in the face and they say, "I don't know what to do, I pray and pray, but I just don't know what to do." Terribly unspiritual of me, but in all honesty it just drives me bonkers. I tend to look at my choices, pray for God's wisdom, and then unless I hear otherwise from God, I make the choice that seems most sensible (which does not always result in choosing the funnest things by the way). This is probably how most of us make our decisions. We just frame it up different ways. Some say they "felt" God wanted them to do such and such or even that he "told" them to do such and such and that's fine, I guess, but it's not necessarily verbiage I can completely understand. And it can have the potental of rendering the person unquestionable. After all God talks to them and tells them what to do, who am I to question? I do however, understand the sense of peace I have felt after making a decision that I thought was one with which God would be pleased. I trust that God will give wisdom to those who truly seek His will. However, I have never had God come out and tell me what to do. I'm not saying He doesn't do that, I'm just saying I've never had that happen. And I also know that people who love God and trust him sometimes make bad decisions. And I don't feel any obligation to come up with a reason for why God "let" this bad decision happen. It's part of the human experience. Sometimes a good Christian will buy a bad car, pastor a bad church, or even invest in bad stock. I believe that while God doesn't enjoy our suffering, neither is He as consumed with our happiness and comfort as modern Christianity has made Him out to be. He is concerned with out eternal destiny.

As I'm growing older I'm understanding better what it means to have an eternal perspective. That what is here and now isn't what we are living for anyway. The most important part of the here and now is that the choices we make and the things that we vaule can effect where we are when "real" life begins. This has changed my relationship with Jesus tremendously. I don't expect my relationship with Jesus to result in a "cofortable" life. Instead my serving Him means I will trust Him no matter what this life holds. I trust Him for joy, peace, and comfort in eternity and that gives me joy and peace right here and now. Sometimes I get tired thinking of working for the rest of my life. I start thinking like an American and wondering if there is any weight to the theory that if we handle our money well God will give us more. Or if I make good choices everybody will love, like and appreciate me. That if I ask God for any "reasonable" thing He will give it to me. Then I hear a news flash on Christians living in North Korea. How they are imprisoned, tortured and going without just BECAUSE they love Jesus. And then I wake up and realize that comfort, ease, and plenty are not guarantees of Christianity. And all our best efforts at making good choices may not result in ease, comfort, or plenty either.

And so while I'm not seeking out hardship, I'm not running from it in fear. I trust Jesus. I'll trust him to help me make my decision and then trust Him with the consequences that come with that decision. I'll trust Him with plenty or with nothing. I will trust Him with this life and the one to come. I will trust Him.