What Does It Feel Like to Make Decisions In Christ?

Our home church is elder led, and I have served in that leadership capacity for a long time. I have loved it, because I dearly love the people and the message of approval and love in Christ that we proclaim. The work of guarding and shepherding in a relationship of love and mutual respect with the pastor, my brother elders, and the deacons has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life.

Last Sunday I stepped down.

I thought, when it was all over, that I would feel a little undone, but instead, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. I was surprised, but I don’t know why I should have been. That is always the way decisions made in Christ feel.

I have known for quite some time that I needed to focus on growing the Ragtown ministry, part of which means spending a lot of Sundays traveling to other churches to sing and tell people about this wonderful place, and the dynamic connection within a church that fellowship travel can create. I know the Lord has been nudging me to take this step, and I have sensed a bit more urgency in the nudge recently. When I realized that it was what I wanted to do, it was time.

We search and search for God’s will, don’t we? Should I do this? Should I give up doing that? Is this the right thing?

The longer I live this life, the longer the list of experiences I can look back upon, and hopefully glean some insight from. In retrospect, the best decisions I have made in my life, were to do what I wanted to do.

Robin and I got married because we wanted to. We had children because we wanted to. I started writing plays and songs because I wanted to. We built Ragtown and began to do plays and concerts because we wanted to. And the list goes on.

The 37th Psalm makes a promise that God will give us the desires of our heart, which means to me that He places desires in my heart. He puts the “want to” in my heart, so isn’t it perfectly natural that when I take action toward those things, that I have a certainty that I don’t necessarily understand?

Of course, there are those who would try to make this into a sure-fire formula for success. Well, maybe success isn’t what the Lord knows we need right at this point. Perhaps instead, growth through whatever obstacles we are about to encounter is necessary for something just down the path.

All I can do is trust the Lord to place those desires in my heart that will lead me where I need to go, and then pray that He’ll keep on nudging me until I pay attention.

Just a question: Do you think if you follow a desire that you believe God has placed in your heart that you are guaranteed to have success?