Day 6: The Faithful Life
Read: Genesis 1:28-32
All too often, I tend to consider the events of my life, the choices and directions I could take, and ask, “Lord, which is for me?” Do I enroll in this major or that, live in this apartment or that, move to this job or that, spend money on this or that? Besides the obvious choices to sin or obey, the human experience and life is often made up of options that are completely amoral.
There might not be a right or wrong answer as to whether you should have a ham or turkey sandwich at lunch. Humans, living in the power of the Holy Ghost, might wholly have the reins for much of the ride. At the same time though, there are plenty of choices that might seem completely amoral, but deep down in our spirit we know what we should or shouldn’t do. In this arena we see the divine and human will start to dance.
In Genesis 1, God gives the first charge to the beginning human beings after their creation, and within it, there are two categories of choices available to the first man and woman. The first category is that of a moral decision. It is God’s commands for them to multiply, fill the earth, and be stewards over all that He created. This call to be stewards of what God has created was not only for that first couple, but for us today. Will we answer or run from the explicit commandment of God? The second category of choices is less blatant and is without moral consequences. God in this passage gives them every plant, seed, and fruit for their sustenance. In their choosing, would it be foolish for that couple to pray, “But Lord, which one?” Has he not passed the authority to them to choose all options, as all options are within His will?
In our lives as we seek the will of God we tend to forget that within His will for our life is the desire for us to have a life and everything that might constitute a life. Marriage, kids, college, whatever it may be and if it is not sin and He has not explicitly denied it to you, then it must be concluded that our response should be one of faithful dominion according to His broad, multi-optional provisions. Sometimes God provides a multitude of options of which none may be wrong or sinful; to remain immobile in such circumstances is to faithlessly deny and reject the dominion He has given to us.
Where is it in your life that you have doubted the dominion God has given you over this earth? Where is it that you could honor God by taking Him up on the “every-fruits” He offers? All to often I stress over things in my life that I could instead choose to trust God’s empowerment in my success, or his grace in my failures. Where can you trust God?