Are you an analyzer?? Do you need ALL of the details before you can make a decision? Especially a really big decision? I know I found myself among the camp of analyzers too when it came to decisions in my life. Sometimes I felt like God gave me an idea or prompting to do something but after I sent it through my internal analysis machine, I decided to play it safe and do whatever felt rationally correct. I didn’t always do that, but about half of the time I did.
The result of those analytical decisions never brought me the peace and bliss that I thought it should; in fact it made me miserable and hopeless. But for some reason, I never traced it back to my decision. I just felt like maybe God just wanted me to be miserable (oops, am I being too honest?). After all, so many other Christians that I knew either plastered fake smiles on their faces and said things like “I’m too blessed to be stressed” with glazed over eyes and a forced giggle of some sort, or they painted their faces with scowls of judgment and compassion-less feelings toward other unfortunate souls. Sometimes I wondered if there were any normal Christians like me, just struggling a little to obey God and be a good person most of the time. And beyond that, make good decisions based on the spirit of God leading them instead of analytical conclusions.
Here’s the truth that will set you free; and I know it will because it set me free: Don’t overthink it – just do whatever God says to do. It probably won’t make sense. It will probably look like the most awful decision or move you could ever make. Do it anyway. When I decided to finally obey God and quit my job (mind you, I felt VERY strongly that God wanted me to leave), the timing seemed awful. We literally had just depleted our savings. A safety net did not exist. Stepping out meant complete faith; like stepping out onto thin air and expecting a magical ledge to appear. We honestly didn’t know how we would survive financially, but my husband and I both felt we couldn’t wait for things to make sense. We needed to make the move, and we needed to do it now!
I’m only a couple weeks out from taking the plunge and what I landed in was an ocean of grace. Within just a few days, contracts came in, new business opportunities presented themselves. It’s been a roller coaster ride so far, but it’s been an exciting one. God is holding us in the palm of his hands and I know He’s got this.
What are you overthinking right now? Has God told you to do something to which you decided to run the decision through the analysis machine first? Please don’t do that! Something amazing happens when we decide to just allow God to lead us. A beautiful thread begins to emerge in our life; we begin to see his handiwork of provision, providence and destiny. When we let go of the reigns and just let him turn us where He will, we find ourselves arriving at beautiful destinations.
I know the protocol of this world we live in is all about analyzing the facts, employing the pros and cons, and making a decision based on the FACTS. But that’s not the way God does things in His kingdom. We don’t get to see where He’s taking us, we just gotta trust that He is taking us somewhere.
I’m reminded of the way Jesus called some of the disciples. He just basically said, “Hey boys, you’ve been catching fish. Let’s go catch some people.” And that’s it. That’s all he said to them and they threw down their nets and jumped ship to follow him. They had no idea where he was leading them or the plans in store. They didn’t care; they just simply obeyed. And these few men helped Jesus set the world on fire. Did they know they were going to start the spark that basically changed the world forever??? Probably not.
Just like how we have no idea what our obedience will yield. Whose life will be changed because you decide to follow God and stop overthinking what He tells you?? Just think about that for a minute!! All God needs are people willing to be led instead of doing the leading. He’s got this — He knows EXACTLY what’s He’s doing.
