Ideas to options

The previous post referenced toilet paper choices, actually as an introduction to these thoughts about selections of much greater significance. Having now visited Cameroon, where my grandparents spent the majority of their lives, I have been thinking about their choice to live and work in that country so far from their homeland. They felt called by God, there is no question, and, I wonder: did the call come out of an idea they had, which they then sought God’s input about?
Thinking about this in terms of my recent trip, I remember back when:

- The trip idea was first conceived
- I thought more about it and wondered
- I prayed and asked God to show me if this trip was His will
- I began exploring
- I waited, and finally…
- I received His confirmation, blessing and answer

I am noticing that it all started with an idea.

This is most often the case, isn’t it? If a batch of “monster” cookies is going to be enjoyed by my grandkids and me, I’ve got to come up with the idea to bake some cookies. If I’m going to invite a group of friends over for some good conversation and fellowship, I need to first think about inviting them over. And if I want to live a life to bring glory to God, I need to spend some time thinking about ways to do that. I need to consider what ideas are in my heart and mind that I may need to talk with Him about?

After this Africa trip I’m finding some dissatisfaction, even disillusionment with the “menu” options I see around me. These options concern a variety of items – big and small, significant and insignificant – yet they all seem to offer at least one of two things: more comfort and/or less pain.

I better quickly say that I don’t think it’s wrong to be comfortable or to be pain-free. I’m sitting in my comfortable home right now and am very thankful for it. I’m recently over a painful illness and am so grateful to be pain-free again. These are blessings from God. What I am telling myself is that I need to remember that this isn’t my home. This country isn’t even my home. Not even this earth. I’m passing through this place. And it’s so ridiculously easy to get sucked into believing this life is what it’s all about. We need to fight against that, continually.

So I plan to do a little rebelling against the choices around me. At least I’m going to seek to vet them, and not just grab an option because it’s there. I’m going to remind myself that with every option I select, I lose some current or future opportunity to choose. That’s the way options and choices work, isn't it? No matter who we are on this earth – we can’t have it all. Time, money, opportunities, relationships… They all have limits; we must be choosy.

My grandparents’ deviated significantly from the typical life option menu. And it seems it may have started when the idea was first conceived in my Grandpa’s mind. It resulted in a big choice to invest in another place, an everlasting place. I wonder what our lives would look like if we spent more time conceiving and praying about ideas than we did appraising existing menu options. I’m not sure, but I’m hoping to find out.