Do you ever wonder if you are making the right decision? Have you ever wondered if the decisions you make are according to the will of God? When it comes to what color socks I’m going to wear, I don’t usually fret over that too much, but when it comes to decisions regarding the church, career, family I want to feel confident that God is with me. The trouble is that there are many factors that play into any of the decisions we make. For example, if someone comes to you and ask your opinion or ask you to help them with a project, what factors enter in? Who they are? What is your relationship to them? Do you even like them? How long will the project take? What might you have to sacrifice in order to help them? On the smaller and more personal issues we will often be on our own, but on the larger ones Jesus gives us some pretty good advice.
Jesus said, “Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” So with larger issues we can come together and if we seek the mind of Christ, then He will be with us. However, when two or three Christians get together, do they always come up with the right answer?
Let’s see: Westboro Baptist Church? No. David Koresch and Jim Jones? No and No. Those are obvious though. What about someone that we might think is really spot on, for example, Martin Luther. Was he always right? During his time, he backed the ruling class which led to the death of 100,000 peasants and he also wrote concerning the Jews and referred to them as a “miserable, blind, and senseless people” who, if necessary, must be driven “out like mad dogs.” Many agreed with him at the time, but do you think he was right? Perhaps this is heresy, but given our track record, I’m not at all convinced that we can know the will of God with 100% accuracy; however, I do believe that we can move in the right direction.
It begins with humility, but from there we must learn to discern what is motivating us and what our true intentions are. When it comes to knowing the mind and will of Christ, it is not about assessing the end result, it is about determining the “Why?” behind it.
You decide you want to build a grand cathedral filled with the finest accoutrements. The floors are rose marble. The walls of Granite. The chalice on the altar is pure gold. In and of itself it is a testament to the glory of God and the love of his people, but why did you build it? Was it truly for the glory of God or did you want God and everyone else to see how special you are? How wealthy you are? What a great magnanimous soul you have?
Gandhi wrote, “Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but by his intentions. For God alone reads our hearts.”
When two or three of us come together with our hopes and prayers that Christ will truly be with us, we must ask ourselves a few very important questions: is our motivation pure and will it bring glory to God? If we can answer “Yes” to these questions, then we can humbly move forward, all the while continuously assessing our hearts.
Candle in a Cave 