LIVING DECISIVELY

To live a life infused with a divine purpose and intentionality, two pillars are essential. First,  you must be led by the Spirit of God. Second, you must be decisive. 

Indecision and doubt are shacklers that bind us, preventing action and opportunities from blossoming.  Overanayzing every detail cripples progress.  As Wiliam Arthur Ward eloquently stated, “The optimist lives on the peninsula of infinite possibilities; the pessimist is stranded on the island of perpetual indecision.” 

Many people find themselves paralyzed by analysis, drowning in a sea of distractions.  We are not called to be a Las Vegas odds-calculating analyst, but rather, faith-filled, Spirit-empowered, disciples of Jesus, unafraid to take risks in obedience. It’s undeniably challenging to be decisive when we’re fixated on predicting every outcome before making a move.

However, this doesn’t advocate for rash actions.  Often, we use excuses to talk ourselves out of taking any action at all.  In the following passage, we see how the Apostle Peter’s bold faith, fueled by decisive action, made the impossible possible: 

“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd. After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. Later that night, He was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. It’s a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid. Lord, if it’s you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water.

Come, He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me! Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. You of little faith, He said, why did you doubt? And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.” 

~Matthew 14:22-32

Jesus didn’t instruct Peter to mull over every detail or meticulously calculate every risk involved in stepping out of the boat and walking on water. He simply said, “Come.” Much like Peter, we may not always have complete clarity on how things will unfold, but that uncertainty should never hinder our trust in God’s plan.  At the start of our faith journey, the details of God’s plan often remain unseen, this is by design.  Faith often requires us facing the unknown and trusting Him even in the unknown strengthens our faith.

Notice how Peter thrived until his focus shifted from Jesus.  Distractions by external circumstances caused his faith to waver.  Distractions breed doubt, doubt breeds discouragement, and discouragement breeds a lack of faith.

Let your faith be your compass, guiding you towards decisive and intentional action in all aspects of your life.

Have a blessed week, 

Pastor (Rev. Elias Limones)