Questions Before Saying “Yes” to a New Opportunity
Elaine Brown, in an article published in Discipleship Journal, asks us to consider the following seven questions before saying “yes” to a new opportunity:
1. Will my spouse and children be adversely affected if I say “yes” to this?
2. Is this new opportunity likely to place undue stress on my mind, emotions, and/or body?
3. Am I fully aware of all that is involved in this commitment?
4. Could this new opportunity undermine my effectiveness in already existing commitments?
5. Will this opportunity enable me to use my God-given spiritual gifts and natural talents?
6. Would it be better for someone else to do this?
7. What are my motives for considering this opportunity?
Ron Barnes, “Cultivating a Humble Heart,” Kindred Spirit, Vol. 22, No. 3, Autumn, 1998, p. 7
Reggie White
The next year, Wolf and Holmgren went after Reggie White, a free agent who was one of the greatest defensive players in the history of pro football. Every team in the NFL would have liked to have signed White. An ordained minister, he said he would go where God wanted him to go.
Holmgren called White and left a message on his answering machine. “Reggie, this is God,” the message said. “I want you to go to Green Bay.”
Reggie White was not offended—not by Holmgren’s humor or by Wolf’s offer: $17 million for four years.
Favre joined in the pursuit too. “I told him this was a great football town,” Favre said. “I told him he could make the difference. I also told him I didn’t want him hitting me anymore.”
Parade Magazine, August 24, 1997, p. 5
Wait
Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried, Quietly, patiently, lovingly He replied. I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate. And the Master so gently said, “Child, you must wait.”
“Wait! You say wait!” my indignant reply, Lord, I need answers – I need to know why. Is Your hand shortened, or have You not heard? By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming Your word.”
My future and all to which I can relate, Hangs in the balance and You tell me ‘wait’? I’m needing a ‘yes’—a go ahead sign, Or at least a ‘no’ to which I can resign.
And Lord, I’ve been asking and this is my cry, I’m weary of asking, I need a reply, Then quietly, softly I learned of my fate, As my Master replied, once again, “You must wait.”
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut. And I grumbled to God—”So I’m waiting, for what?” He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine, And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.”
“I could shake the heavens, darken the sun, Raise up the dead, cause the mountain to run. All you seek, I could give and pleased you would be. You would have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.”
“You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint. You’d not know the power that I give to the faint. You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair. You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.”
“You’d not know the joy of resting in Me. When darkness and silence was all you could see. You’d never experience that fullness of love, As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove.”
“You would know that I give and save for a start, But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart, The glow of My comfort, late in the night, The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
“The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask, Of an infinite God that makes what you have last! And you never would know should your pain quickly flee, What it means that, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
Yes, your dreams for that loved one, One night would come true. But oh the loss if you lost what I’m doing to you.
So be silent, my child, and in time you will see, That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me. And though oft may My answers seem terribly late, That My most precious answer of all is still ‘wait’.”
Russell Kelfer
Making Right Decisions
If we want God to guide us, our attitude needs to be right. Here are some guidelines as to how we can play our part in arriving at right decisions.
First, we must be willing to think. It is false piety, super-supernaturalism of an unhealthy pernicious sort that demands inward impressions with no rational base, and declines to heed the constant biblical summons to consider. God made us thinking beings, and he guides our minds as we think things out in his presence.
Second, we must be willing to think ahead and weigh the long-term consequences of alternative courses of action. Often we can only see what is wise and right, and what is foolish and wrong, as we dwell on the long-term issues.
Third, we must be willing to take advice. It is a sign of conceit and immaturity to dispense with taking advice in major decisions. There are always people who know the Bible, human nature, and our own gifts and limitations better than we do, and even if we cannot finally accept their advice, nothing but good will come to us from carefully weighing what they say.
Fourth, we must be willing to be ruthlessly honest with ourselves. We must suspect ourselves: ask ourselves why we feel a particular course of action will be right and make ourselves give reasons.
Fifth, we must be willing to wait. “Wait on the Lord” is a constant refrain in the Psalms and it is a necessary word, for the Lord often keeps us waiting. When in doubt, do nothing, but continue to wait on God.
Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for October 13
Wright Was Wrong
A bishop of a century ago pronounced from his pulpit and in the periodical he edited that heavier-than-air flight was both impossible and contrary to the will of God. Oh, the irony that Bishop Wright had two sons, Orville and Wilbur! Wright was wrong. Sure of himself, but wrong.
Winning the New Civil War, Robert P. Dugan, Jr., p. 38
Jessica Hawn
Jessica Hawn, former church secretary who committed immoral acts with Jim Bakker (former host of the PTL Club), and later brought down the PTL empire, said today (9–28-87) that God gave her “real peace” about granting an interview to Playboy magazine and posing for topless pictures. On 9–29-87 the news reports that she still considers herself a Christian, but goes to God “one-on-one,” not through any church or organization. Also: she doesn’t consider herself a “bimbo.” But her mother does.
Source unknown
Quotes
• Once while Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, he was asked, “What would you do if you suddenly learned that you where to die at sunset today?” He replied, “I would finish hoeing my garden.” – Francis of Assisi
• Do not hastily ascribe things to God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions or revelations to be from God. They may be from Him. They may be from nature. They may be from the Devil. – John Wesley Why Christians Sin, J. K. Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, p. 102.
• To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge! To do the will of God is the greatest achievement! – George W. Truett, quoted in “Toolkit,” Cell Church, Winter, 1996, p. 10.
• When God bolts the door, don’t try to get in through the window.
• The will of God never will lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.
You’d Better Inquire Again
One day Dwight Morrow and his wife, the parents of Anne Lindbergh, were in Rugby, England. After wandering through the streets they realized that they had lost their way. At this moment an incident occurred that entered into Morrow’s philosophy and became a guiding principle in his life. He stopped a little Rugby lad of about 12 years. “Could you tell us the way to the station?” he asked. “Well,” the boy answered, “You turn to the right there by the grocer’s shop and then take the second street to the left. That will bring you to a place where four streets meet. And then, sir, you had better inquire again.”
“This answer came to symbolize for Dwight Morrow his own method of approaching complicated problems,” writes Harold Nicolson in his excellent biography. “It implied in the first place a realistic skepticism regarding the capacity of human intelligence…It was in the second place an object lesson in the inevitability of gradualness. And in the third place, it was a parable of how, when the ultimate end is uncertain, one should endeavor to advance, if only a little way, in the correct, rather than the incorrect direction.
Bits and Pieces, Dec., 1991, p. 14
Resources
• How to Study the Bible for Yourself, Tim LaHaye, Harvest House, pp. 95-6.
• The Fight, J. White, IVP, pp. 153ff
Give God Time
Writing about God’s sure guidance, British pastor Frank W. Boreham recounted a time when a minister visited his home in New Zealand. Being young and inexperienced, Boreham sought the counsel of his guest. He said that one morning they were sitting on the veranda, looking out over the golden plains to the purple sunlit mountains. He asked the minister, “Can a man be sure that in the hour of perplexity he will be rightly led by God? Can he feel secure against making a false step?” “I am certain of it,” exclaimed the minister, “if he will but give God time! As long as you live, remember that. Give God time!”
Source unknown
Use the Old Ball
As the golfer approached the first tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball. Deciding that the hole was too treacherous, he pulled out an old ball and placed it on the tee. Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly: “USE THE NEW BALL!” Frightened, he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee. Now the voice from above shouted: “TAKE A PRACTICE SWING!” With this, the golfer stepped backward and took a swing. Feeling more confident, he approached the tee when the voice again rang out: “USE THE OLD BALL!”
Source unknown
The Will of God, Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else
I. SANCTIFICATION IS GOD’S WILL FOR US
A. AVOIDING SEXUAL IMMORALITY AND IMPURITY IS GOD’S WILL FOR US – I Thessalonians 4:1–8
B. WISE LIVING IS GOD’S WILL FOR US – Ephesians 5:15–21
C. NON-CONFORMATION, TRANSFORMATION, AND RENEWAL ARE GOD’S WILL FOR US – Romans 12:1–2
D. CONTINUAL REJOICING, CEASELESS PRAYER, AND CONSTANT THANKSGIVING ARE GOD’S WILL FOR US – I Thessalonians 5:16–18
II. SECURITY IS GOD’S WILL FOR US – John 6:38–40
III. SERVICE IS GOD’S WILL FOR US – Ephesians 6:5–9; I Peter 5:2
IV. SUFFERING IS GOD’S WILL FOR US – I Peter 3:17; I Peter 4:19
Source unknown
John Wesley
A lady once asked John Wesley if he knew that he would die at midnight the next day, how would he spend the intervening time. He replied, “Why, madam, just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning; after that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to Martin’s house…talk and pray with the family as usual, retire myself to my room at 10 o’clock, commend myself to my Heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in glory.”
Today in the Word, March 1989, p. 40.
Francis of Assisi
Once while Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, he was asked, “What would you do if you were suddenly told you would die at sunset today?” He replied, “I would finish hoeing my garden.”
Moody Monthly, April, 1990, p. 76
Tossing a Stick
Walter Knight told of an old Scottish woman who went from home to home across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed.
One day, however, she was seen tossing the stick up several times. “Why do you toss the stick more than once?” someone asked. “Because,” replied the woman, “it keeps pointing to the left, and I want to take the road on the right.” She then dutifully kept throwing the stick into the air until it pointed the way she wanted to go!
Today in the Word, May, 1989
All Things Necessary
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life is either expressly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture, unto which nothing at anytime is to be added whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of man.
From the Westminster Confession of Faith