Okay, It’s Decision Time
My mind was spinning.
“You’ve had a liver transplant,” my husband explained as he leaned over the hospital bed to welcome me back to the land of the living. Psalm 116:8-9 As the info soaked in, the ultimate dread came. Weight of guilt and shame demanded to know. Did I cause this? Was I responsible? I could only assume so because I was already thinking so little about myself that my mind gave me no other choice. There were no answers, only fear I was responsible and terror that anyone would find out.
But on the flip side of the coin, I was so thankful and humbled. I was alive and through with doing things my way. It was decision time. Was I going to go back to how I’d been living?
My answer was, NO!
Has something happened like this to you too, something that brought an immediate humbling and perspective change? Suddenly you’re incredibly grateful for something big or small you almost lost? Have you made some regretful choices in your life, and you can’t seem to get past the past? Do you think it might be your decision time to say yes to spiritual, emotional, and physical health?
God works in ways we aren’t even aware of. Just like the woman made well in Mark 5 who had mustered curiosity and courage to go out in the crowd, hearing about Jesus can spark change. Mark 5:27 – CSB Hearing and being curious in an environment that studies biblical scripture with Holy Spirit-led explanation and application is where the possibility of transformation begins.
By getting the Word of God in me through curiosity and hearing, it began to work inside me. Romans 10:17 – NLT And even though I’d hardly cracked the cover of a Bible for myself up to this point, I’d heard His Word in an environment filled with the Holy Spirit’s presence, and it was doing something. Hebrews 4:12-13 And I was desperate for it to do something.
God’s hand moves, molds, and changes things we don’t even realize; it’s His invisible work in our lives. This working of God behind the scenes of our life is called providence.
Pastor Tony Evans explains providence like this. “Providence acknowledges that ultimately God is in control and that his method of being In control often involves twists, turns, and meanderings that make us uncomfortable.” But He goes on to say, “yet the sovereign providence of God can only mean that he’s the absolute ruler, controller, and sustainer of all aspects of his creation. He’s the sovereign king. He’s running the universe. His prowess and wisdom set up the details, turn circumstances, reverse situations, and usher people, positions, and places into his intended purpose. Often all of this occurs without our awareness or acceptance because God doesn’t need us as much as we may think He does.“
Pastor Tony also says, “God’s providence and sovereign control exist, whether or not we acknowledge them. So yes, to discover the importance of working, living, and moving within them is one of the most critical life skills we could ever develop.“
Sometimes God transforms our perspective by working on the inside of us while we are in the middle of the storm, but He never leaves us alone. He’s always close for you to cry out to Him genuinely.
It’s decision time. Will you begin letting God’s Word into your life so He can start changing things from the inside out?
