Skip to main content

Move Forward or Wait, but Never Waver.




… for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that.  James 1:6-7










Here is the first of the lessons from Woody.

Move forward or wait, but never waver.

Woody suffered from a problem that I and maybe some of you have.  

He wavered between decisions.  

His decision, to cross the road or not to cross the street.  

The fact is that neither choice was wrong but being unable to decide cost him his life.  

There was time for him to cross the road before I got there, 

waiting would have been an ok choice.  

However, running back and forth was what caused the problem.  

Like Woody, I also sometimes suffer from the inability to decide.  

I decide, then wonder if it was right, so I change my mind.  

Then I question that and change it again.  

This is especially true when both decisions seem equally good.

James says not to doubt, waver.  

Meaning, don’t change your mind quickly.  

Once your choice is made, stay with it.  

Elijah on Mount Carmel admonished the Israelites with the same warning.  

He said. “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” 

Wavering is a fear issue.  

I don’t want to be wrong, so I can’t decide which is better.  

In the end, I end up with missed opportunities and failure because like Woody I failed to Choose.  I waffled.  

When we fail to decide, we end up stuck.

we aren’t really moving in any direction.  

God wants us always to be moving toward him.  

Making decisions that will draw us toward him.  

Move forward or wait, but never waver.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Live Fearlessly

                                   As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the    road.  Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride.  As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping.  I could have and should have but I didn't. Why?  I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid.  It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into  overdrive.  Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting.  Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy.  As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid.  Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know.   As I was driving away from a missed opportunity, I began thinking about what it is that makes us afraid.  I honestly am not sure what it is that causes us to be afraid when we should be bold, but I

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story.  We were new parents.  When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes.   One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house.  The next thing I heard was a thud.  I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened.  There was my son with a table on top of him.  He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over.   We put him in the car and dashed for the ER.  It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches.  Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike.  She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road.   I grabbed her up and checked her over there were no injuries, but

The God of Order

  Yesterday, my children and I went walking on a bike trail.    The weather was perfect.   Sunny, warm but not hot.   As we were walking, we started to talk about creation.   Creation itself always amazes me.     Can you imagine watching creation unfold at the word of the Almighty?   It would be   the most glorious and lovely thing to see.      As we were talking, I asked,  “What do you think would have happed if  God had created people first?”     They stopped  gave me a questioning look then my daughter said, “I suppose that we would have starved because there was no food.”     And we all had a laugh creating  other scenarios for what might  have happened if creation had happened in any other way.      Yet, the   fact is that creation itself demonstrates that God is a God of order.   Each day of creation built on   what had been done the day before.    It also reminds me that God wants our lives to be as orderly as possible. God planned creation before one word was spoken