an explanation of why I don't invite people over often (and some thoughts on choosing the right path)

How do we choose the right path?

            We have all struggled with choosing the right path. Caz’s sermon last Sunday offered some valuable insights as to why.  While it seems like a worthy struggle, Caz pointed out that often we just want God to tell us the future.  We want Him to tell us that the decisions we make will turn out well. I don’t know about you, but I’m not often given that assurance.

            It’s important to weigh decisions, but as Caz said, we are not responsible for the outcome. Isn’t that frightening? We can make a decision that we feel honors God, and yet things can still go horribly wrong. We’ve all seen examples of this: integrity met with betrayal, love met with indifference. We have to give the outcome over to God. We have to give over control.

            Caz’s guidance on choosing the right path is valuable. We have to know Jesus (to know how He would act in a situation, or what would bring us closer to Him, as my dad would say). As we are approaching Lent, I am excited that the next series is about the life of Jesus. The more we know Jesus, the more we can trust that we are behaving as He would behave. His second suggestion was surprising: knowing ourselves. If we know what are strengths are, and our weaknesses, just as importantly, we can make better decisions about what makes sense in our life.

            I’ve had to let go of a lot of ideals over the years. When we bought our house five years ago, we had a lovely dining room that was almost never used for entertaining guests. I love people but I don’t like cooking or cleaning. Let’s go out to eat, shall we? With the arrival of our second child we realized we could no longer afford to have empty space in our home. The dining room is now my office. It doesn’t look as nice, but it represents who we are, not who we want to be.  

            Maybe choosing the right path is about clearing a path. Let’s clear the path of obstacles like fear and insecurity. Let’s let go of our little god complex where we think it’s our job to make everything turn out perfectly. Let’s light our path with others who will tell us our weaknesses and strengths. We do not walk alone. Beth Kropf