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Choices


But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

                In reading the penultimate chapter of Hearing God, the issue that stood out to me is my reason for wanting to hear God: I don’t like risk. I want God to tell me what to do and guarantee the outcome. I want to know I’m right. It’s part of my personality, which means it’s not something I can turn on and off. I have to figure out how to deal with it, to recognize the weakness. 
         I’ve written before about God’s will sometimes being like a six-lane highway. You can travel down the right land, the second lane from the left, or any other lane. Your experience won’t be quite the same, but you’re still in God’s will. Sometimes, God’s will requires that you get out of the car and crawl though a gap made for someone two sizes smaller than you through mud and thorny bushes. While I’m not fond of the mud and thorns, I tend to like those times better because it’s harder to screw up. At the same time, I hate those times because I hate feeling like I have no choice. I really have to pity God sometimes. 
          “Give me choices!”
          “OK, here are your choices.”
          “Not that many choices.”
          One by one, He eliminates the choices until only the original is left. And if He’s fortunate, I don’t snap back with, “Give me choices!” I think this is where I stand at the moment. Too many choices. There is so much that needs to be done and I’m in a hurry to get it done, but that means that it feels like I’m on a motorcycle, weaving in and out across all six lanes of traffic without really watching where I’m going. 
          This might not be your story, too. You may have a different set of weaknesses in hearing God. Do you know what they are? How long does it take you to realize you’re going it again?   

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