God Over Convenience.
Choosing God over Convenience: As Christians, pursuing God’s path and not creating our own is something we all desire because we know in our strength alone — we will not overcome and we will not be successful. So how do we get to a place where we are both hearing God’s voice and discerning the needle of the Holy Spirit compass guide us?
In my walk with Jesus, I’ve learned that it begins with building a foundation on God and knowing the truth that is written in his Word. How do we make that a part of our daily life? Here’s what I’ve experienced: when you read the written Word it will begin to saturate you! You will start to live out your life biblically instead of worldly, you become more sensitive to God’s voice, building up your vertical relationship, and strengthening discernment. Jeremiah 6:16 says it this way: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it”. Choice creates a crossroad; for example, if you are deciding on getting food you can either eat at home and save money or go out and spend. You have to do one or the other…doing both is not an option and doing nothing will leave you hungry. In the same way, every major life altering decision should have discernment and God’s hand on it; you can either go to the left which is paved by God or to the right where you pave the way yourself. This decision seems easy or even logical, right? Go the way that’s already paved? But if you are not hearing God’s voice and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, the decision seems almost impossible. I am not perfect, not even close — but I try to seek God with all of my heart (Jeremiah 29:13). God’s counsel and voice are so dear to me that I want every decision to go through Him first with the Bible as my foundation. I call this our Godly filter.
So I want to ask you today…maybe you’re like me? In our prayer time we tend to ask God for something — whether that is healing, a new job, or finances. God hears every prayer, every word we speak, I hope today you actually know that. In fact, He knows before the words part from our lips (Psalm 139:4). God will answer our prayers and respond, but not always in the way we want or think He will. For example, you could be praying for God to bless their finances. Using our own eyes and discernment, we usually think of “blessing in finances” as an increase of finances, but God’s answer could be teaching you how to steward and become more responsible with what you already hold.
Give you perspective from my life — I have been in a season where I lost my job in August 2020 and have since been exhaustingly searching for a new one. Honestly, finances are rough right now, but I know in this season with limited resources, God is teaching me financial responsibility. I am not a fan of sitting still and having loads of free time! I enjoy working, serving and growing deeper in relationships with people. If you know me or can take a guess, it has been more tiring sitting around without a job than it is actually working for me. This is a season that is very important to have my eyes open where God is leading and my ears to be keen to what God is speaking to me. Five months have gone by and the emails stating “Thank you for your interest but we have chosen another candidate” have flooded my inbox. With that in mind, and the amount of time passing — You might think, “the first job offer, I’m taking it”; but not for me! Before any acceptance or decline of a position, I bring it to God first. I know where God has called me in my life and one of the “Godly filter” questions I ask myself is, will this position move me along my calling or stray me farther from it? Am I taking something strictly out of convenience? Asking yourself this question alone demonstrates the importance of God’s voice in your life!
Through fasting and prayer, I ask God to heighten my senses and to transform them from worldly to Godly. Trust me, this is not easy! It is an everyday surrender and pursuit because the world can look so appealing in the short term. The path God has paved may not be easy or even on your timeline, but it is the path for Kingdom Building. Yes, you might have been waiting and it seems like that door is finally open — that does not make it God ordained or appointed. The enemy comes in disguise to distract and to deter you from your calling, from your lessons to be learned, and growth to be gained. Keep His voice close and His word the foundation of everything you do.
Lets be a generation that chooses God over convenience. — Olivia M. Gibson
