MIRE CHA ... Decisions...

I have been thinking the past several days about choices I’ve made and the impact they’ve had.

Every day, we’re making decisions. In Amharic, these are called “mire cha.”

Some choices are big, some are small.   Looking back on my life, there have been a million decisions I’ve made, paths I’ve chosen to go down or up.  Some have been good decisions, some have not.

To stay or leave. To start something or finish. To hold on or to let go. To buy this or that. To go here or there. To go the gym or to take it easy. To spend or to save. To sleep or to work. To move on or be still.  To pay attention to something now, or wait. 

Some decisions can change the course of your life forever.  What you decide today, does indeed often effect tomorrow.

So when you’re on life’s journey, how do you know which path to take? How can you make wise decisions?

We were having some discussion in some of my classes last week about choices.  I asked my students what they thought the biggest choices in life were. Some mentioned: what to study or major in; who to marry; and how to manage time. The biggest one most said was whether to follow God or not.  I agreed with that.

For the idea of choice started with God. He chose to create. He chose to make us like Him.  And to give us the amazing ability to have relationship with Him, to be part of His family and His redeeming work in the world. We have been chosen and are loved.

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule…

Deuteronomy 7: 6-8

…the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number…but because the Lord loved you… he brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you

John 15:16

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last- …

Ephesians 1:4

…for He chose us in Him before the creation of the world …

1 Peter 2:9

You are a chosen people …

Yet, part of our uniqueness in how we we're made in God’s image is we have this ability to choose, we have free will. So, we don’t have to choose God back. We can do our own thing, go our own way. Make our own decisions.

That was a huge decision by God to give us that freedom. He could see ahead, that many would decide NOT to be with Him. NOT to trust His leadership- but to live their own way. Bringing sin and pain and destruction to the world He made.

BUT, God valued voluntary devotion, He wanted people who would choose to love Him and know Him and follow Him- not because they were made to, but because they wanted to. So, we have choice. Decisions to make.

Choosing to be in relationship with God IS the biggest choice you’ll ever make.

You can either live with Him and with His help or without.   If you chose to be with Him, - you have to know and understand Jesus and what He did for you. He paid the way for you to have relationship with God. What an amazing gift this is that changes everything about life. The Bible says, apart from Jesus, we’re dead in our sin, unable to have relationship with God. But, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the way to God and the payment for our sin.  We have to decide to believe in and accept this gift or not…

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

John 14:6

I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

1 John 4:10

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins

If we accept this gift, decide to be in relationship with God, then He stands ready and willing and always there to help us in the decisions we make in life.

But we often do our own thing, don’t we? We act quickly. Or too slowly. We lean on our own ideas. Or lean on the advice of maybe Google or our friends, before asking for God’s wisdom.

This is great scripture to consider in making decisions, because again, decisions impact us, others, and the future. So we must take care and act wisely.

 

Another thing God reminded me recently about choice had to do with invasion. Ants invaded my home, literally. Now, I didn’t choose to let them in, they just came in. They covered one of my walls near an electrical socket. It was weird and I couldn’t get them to go away. I tried everything people suggested- but they just kept coming in and coming back. Some people said- just choose to let them be. They are harmless. It’s Africa.

Ummmm. Not a fan of crawling things in my home. It would have to be them or me. J

So my choice in responding to the invasion was to figure out how to get rid of them, for good.

 

Thankfully, one of my neighbors had American-made bug spray and I felt like the weapon I had was the right one. Then, I looked for the source.  I found what looked like the nest- outside on the wall behind my home. Then I sprayed almost a whole can all over the ants and that nest.

Well, the choice was a good one and the right one. It finished them and the nest. And they didn’t come back. And haven’t been back since. I was thankful.

the "remains" of my ant invasion

That experience had me thinking about choices we have to make if an “invasion” is happening in our lives. What invades us? Attacks? There are things from the outside and things from the inside.

There are fears, insecurities, doubt, and depression. There is laziness. Fatigue. There’s disappointment, discouragement, mismanagement, persecution. There’s sickness, disease, death of those we love. There are troubles. There is sin.  We’re being invaded more than we know.

And of course, Satan is lurking like a lion- wanting to deceive us and devour us. We must choose to fight whatever invades us, our families, our homes, our churches, our country, with the right weapon. It’s a choice to fight or not to.  And it’s recognizing the source and taking care of it for good, at its core.

Ignorance of the problem, sleep, medication- short term remedies- are not solutions to invasion. We have to figure out the core or source of the invasion and knock it out. Wipe out its power. Wipe out it's doorway into our lives.

 

And the biggest weapon we have to fight with is PRAYER- connection to God. We can fight and win!

Are you being invaded… then fight, make war on the floor in prayer.  Get in your prayer room, war room, and get the strategy, the energy, the courage, the ability to stand up and fight.   Victory has already been won. We have to remember our Risen King and walk in the authority and power of our identity in Him!  We must make a decision to not settle or be defeated. We must run towards our big God dream and not be held back or stomped down. 

Isaiah 54:17

No weapon formed against you shall prevail … this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord …

2 Corinthians 10:4

The weapons we fight with are not of this world, on the contrary, they have the divine power to demolish strongholds.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

May we lean on God's leadership in the decisions/choices that we face- knowing He can help us and wants to! And that invasions can be stopped by the power of our God.

 

May we seek Him always through all of life's mire cha! Amen!

Isaiah 48:17

This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

Jeremiah 6:16

This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls

Matthew 16:34

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Joshua 24:15

Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve….

Isaiah 30:21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight

Proverbs 4:26

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.

Deuteronomy 5:32-22

So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

May the choices we make honor God always.  May we make the most of each day and not give up or be defeated!

Onward with you.

 Praises/Prayer Requests

-We celebrated Easter (Fasika) here last weekend, what a privilege it was to share in that time with Shalom Kenna, one of my Hope students, and her family. Praise God we have a risen Savior and King!  How wonderful to get to celebrate that holiday twice and every day to be thankful for what Jesus did and who He is for us.

 

-Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful Mom- Rosie! My sister and Dad celebrated with her yesterday. She has also retired from work recently after 30 years. I’m so thankful for her life and example. I hope to still grow up to be like her. J

 

-Classes are back in session this week after some holiday time off. Please pray I can manage everything well and continue to be the best instructor I can be.

-ETC, the theology college, is in a new building project. Please pray that we can find partners for this great new initiative.  I’m humbled and honored to get to instruct at this college and help build up the church here. We have two weeks left of the semester, then finals week. may it be a strong finish.

 

-Rain has been frequent, very shocking for this early in the year. Please pray for good health, and for the rain overall- it makes things messy but parts of Ethiopia need it so much.  

 

Please let me know how I can pray for you as well!

Blessed month of May to you!