This lingering question isn’t new or alarming to anyone on
any given day, as it’s the haunting question that everyone wonders throughout
life’s crazy journey. Humans second guess themselves all of the time, whether
after buying a new car, taking a new job, moving or simply wondering, “What would our world have been life if ________?”
We make decisions every day that have small and massive,
rippling effects on the trajectory of our lives as well as minor and large
consequences effecting the world around us. I remember when Lauren and I made the decision to pursue
medicine many years ago. We were sitting in our house just 2 blocks from where
we live today. Lauren said, “I think I know what I want to do. I want to be a
doctor.” After several years of tests, closed doors that seemed firmly locked, the
perseverance paid off. We knocked down some heavy walls, kept patient, paid our dues and here we are 11 years later... we still wonder, "Did we make the right decision?"
"What if...?"
In the last year +, we had a baby girl and moved to Denver.
I made the decision to stop working as a local pastor and stay at home with
Caroline while Lauren started her internal medicine residency that will last 3
years. These decisions are multilayered that go back to 2008. We sold our home,
left our community and unknown possibilities of church planting in San Antonio,
moved to Dominica and began a whole new journey. We made the decision for
Lauren to have heart surgery 3 years ago when her conditioned worsened, made
another big decision to move to New York City, and one more to move back to
Austin with our family for the first year of Caroline’s life.
Every now and then we wonder, “What if ___________?”
What if we stayed in San Antonio 5 years ago?
What if we never left Denver 11 years ago?
What if we chose not to undergo heart surgery 3 years ago?
What if we didn’t move to New York City after heart surgery?
What if we stayed at Liquid Church and didn’t move to Austin for that last year?
What if we decided to stay in Austin with family just a few
months ago?
I’ll be pretty honest. These questions will drive you crazy if you sit on them for too long.
I
believe in both a sovereign, omniscient deity who knows every single
possibility of any decision we will every make along with believing that he
never manipulates or coerces his creation to make decisions outside of their
free will. This position is called, the “open view.” Essentially, the LORD is
still sovereign (a big misconception some use against this particular view), but our decisions have a huge effect on the complicated day-to-day
issues of this chaotic yet beautiful world. The LORD intervenes, redeems and works with us every step of the way. He's not a clockwork, hands-off deity. However,
this view doesn’t hold to “one way” of doing things… there are thousands of unlimited
options at our disposal. It’s kind of like the children’s book series, “Choose
Your Own Adventure,” but of course, with way more options. If you want to read
about Open Theism in more detail, check out this book, “God of the Possible,” by Greg Boyd.
I'm a believer in our choices. So, what does it mean for us to “choose what is better?”
My father in law, Doug, typically gives Lauren and I advice
from his father regarding an example with 3 paths/ decisions. You’ve probably
heard the scenario at some point, and you’ve most likely “been there – done
that” and wondered, “Hmmm???” Someone is standing at a “crossroads” decision,
and there are three, significantly different paths to take, but they all look
like pretty decent paths. One prays, seeks counsel and weighs the pros and
cons, but still has no discerning clarity on the matter. At this point, Doug’s
father in law said (I’m paraphrasing), “Perhaps
it doesn’t matter what decision you make as long as you seek the LORD and live
out His “will” in your life.” And when we speak of “will” we aren’t talking
about the “destined road” or fate; but ultimately the things we all know to be his will: a
life of love, joy, peace, faithfulness, hope, etc.
The writers of AMC from shows such as “The Walking Dead” and
“Breaking Bad” understand this complex concept well, as the complicated and dark characters are always making “BIG” life altering decisions that beg the viewer,
“What would you do if A.) You have X amount of food during a Zombie Apocalypse
and didn’t’ trust person A on the fringe of “Team Prison?” or, “What would you
do if you were Walter White, a brilliant chemist with lung cancer looking to
provide for your family?”
If you were Walt, cook some crystal, right?
If you were Rick, take out Shane, right?
The Walt factor that is within each one of us reminds me of a scene in Luke’s Gospel:
As
Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman
named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the
Lord’s feet listening to what
he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to
do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord
answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only
one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.
(10:38-42).
This passage drives most of us BAT-$#*! crazy in real world
time. How did Mary “choose” what was better, while clearly, Martha provided for
Jesus and the disciples and was concerned with “practical” and “godly” things
such as serving the Messiah. I’ll be bluntly honest. As a man living in the United States,
I often feel the pressure of “Walt” to “provide” for my family in the ways we've been told by society. I often feel
the struggles of uber-busy Martha, just wanting to "work" (in the traditional sense), serve others (in the churchy sense) and do what is “right” (in who knows what misconceived and ludicrous "sense") and
not appear “lazy” like Mary, who was just "sitting at Jesus’ feet" (...because this "will" thing is often about "pride" for most of us if we were truly honest.).
To sit at Jesus' feet is an extraordinarily profound 1st Century
statement, though. This means to be engaged in discipleship. Sitting at a
Rabbi’s feet was a Hebrew idiom for following a Rabbi, devoting one's entire
life to his mission. Let me clarify before anyone makes unhealthy conclusions and parallels …
there was nothing wrong with Martha taking care of everyone and serving in the
kitchen. Hey! That’s what I do every day now (Totally guilty of telling Lauren, "Would it hurt you to put your dish in the dishwasher every now and then?")! The “wrong” was the prideful posture of her heart as mine on any given day. Martha could have made a fine, Pinterest meal, cleaned the houe to Martha Stewart perfection and washed every dish in Israel, but her heart was in the wrong
place as she failed to “sit at the Rabbi’s feet” and begin her acts of service with relational
humility that begins with the source of every decision under the sun.
This reminds me of the apostle Paul’s description of the
gifts given to the body of Christ. We can do amazing things… preach the paint off the walls of a church, feed the poor, be martyrs, speak in tongues, and change some killer diapers (NewRyan'sVersion), etc. but if we don’t’ have a 'lil thing called love, NOTHING matters! Nada! I think this
is what it means to “choose” what is "better." It’s not as if the choice of
staying at home with Caroline is more righteous than not staying at home. It’s
not as if Lauren is doing what I should be doing. It’s not as if our roles were
reversed everything would be in sync with the LORD’s will. Whether we made the
decision to stay in Austin, NYC or _________ isn’t really the point. The crossroads decisions are all important, and we should never take them lightly. Counsel, prayer, etc., is all good. But the point is beyond the decision.
The point is about sitting at Jesus’ feet before we choose a path... before we "choose our own adventure."
In addition, I'll add that the point to sit at the Rabbis' feet doesn't stop after the decision is made. Whether you are a stay at home parent or work out of the house 5-6 days/week, we have to choose to sit with our Rabbi, abide in Him and walk each day with Him.
There are days when I wonder, “What the hell am I doing?”
Lauren asks the same thing. We talk it over, get perspective. Press the reset button and walk on.
Then, I look down at my little nugget, Caroline Jane Miller,
and I know exactly what I’m doing even if I'm clueless on most days. I’m sitting at the LORD’s feet, and in this season
of our lives, sitting at his feet looks like being the best stay-at-home dad I can be, not for the
sake of pride, but for the sake of loving my family with all of my heart, soul and strength.
Did we make the right decision?
For this particular season and stage in our life, INDEED!
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