The Pivot Point

“Don’t make a decision until you have prayed, then pray more. It will come in God’s timing. Are you sure it is God’s will for you? Wait on God, don’t force it.” In the church, when someone or the organization is unsure of making a decision, these and other phrases get thrown. If you are truly following after Christ and pursuing the plan that God has for your life, you will find yourself faced with moments of uncertainty, moments where you don’t know exactly what to do. These moments are ones where time, money, and other commitments are not always fully clear. It could be related to a new job opportunity, starting a new relationship, moving somewhere else, or choosing exactly what to focus on. If you try and seek counsel you will often hear these buzzword phrases, which are said with sincerity and are well intentioned, but often only provide a false sense of time, which can lead to a false sense of security.

The reality is that you don’t have as much time as you may think. If you are looking for a clear sign or permission, it may not come. You may be looking at the hand you have been dealt and wonder if it’s strong enough, but it seems like the future has no tell. When you look at Scripture, you look for a clear guidance, but can’t find it. What do you do? You prayed for wisdom, you asked for counsel, but are still uncertain. What do you do? You have found yourself on at the pivot point. It’s the point where, regardless of the decision, there will be uncertainty and risk. It is as point where your past mistakes, your false starts and your imperfections boil up to the surface. It feels like you are in front of the class, staring at a blank chalkboard. You have the decision to either act or not; jump in or walk away; going all in or folding. So what do you do?

Throughout scripture, this happened to numerous individuals in various situations. From Nehemiah or Esther approaching their  respective kings to Gideon testing God, the people God uses to further His plan and purpose will face at least one decision where the outcome is uncertain. We sit in church and listen to these stories and think that they knew what they were doing, that they had the situation under control, but the reality was that they were scared, they didn’t exactly know what was going to happen, but they acted. In each of their stories, they focused on God and asked for guidance and for Him to have his hand in the situation, then acted. That action was the pivot, the moment where all the possibilities and the uncertainty come to fruition as reality.

The book of James speaks directly to this. James talks about hearers and doers of the Word and how faith is useless without action. It doesn’t matter how much you read, how much wisdom you ask for, or how much faith in God you say you have. Faith demands obedience and obedience requires action. There are people waiting and watching for you to make a call. They are waiting for you and watching to see if you have the resolve and readiness to move forward, even with the doubt and fear. The reality is that they might be waiting on you because they are waiting on God to do something, and He has picked you to do it. We might be waiting because we don’t want to take the risk, but there is a bigger risk in only making safe choices. That risk is that you may not reach the potential God has waiting for you and you may never experience the blessings that come with that.

So…the decision is yours. What are you going to do?