Page 10 - MyFaith Mag April 2017

are doing is not good. You and these people who come
to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy
for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I
will give you some advice” (Ex. 18:17–19).

Can you relate? Are you juggling so many chainsaws that it
feels impossible to keep going, but also impossible to stop?
What keeps you in this situation? What are you doing to-
day that’s not good for your story? Do you have some habit,
a mindset, an addiction, an attitude, a thought process,
something in your life that’s hijacking the story you want to
tell?

Sometimes, the best decision we can make when feeling
overwhelmed or facing a high-stakes dilemma is simply to
stop. Take a time-out. Hit pause. Sleep on it. Think it over. Get
some godly wisdom from people you trust.

3. Stay
If you haven’t already, you will someday find yourself at a
crossroads, a place where you have to make a difficult de-
cision about your life’s direction. “Should I stay the course
when it would be easier to go another way?” Or maybe a
better question you should ask is this: What does God want
you to want?

One of my favorite stories about staying comes from one of easy life. I called you to a faith-filled life. Put your trust in me.
my best friends, Bobby Gruenewald. Bobby started and Let me handle the details. I’m pretty good at them.”
sold two technology companies before he ever graduat-
ed from college. Obviously this guy is crazy smart. Bobby If God is calling you to go, you’re going to have to leave
started volunteering for our church in his midtwenties, and where you are. And you sure don’t want to miss out on what
we eventually hired him. Although his contribution to Life. he’s doing. Years from now, you could be looking back on
Church was extraordinary, he didn’t feel like he was making this time in your life and realize, “That was the day my story
a difference. So Bobby considered quitting and going changed. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I decided it
back into business. was what God wanted, and now I’m a part of this great
Truthfully, it would have been easier for him. As a pastor, community of believers. I had no idea how different our
he still had a lot to learn. Business is second nature to him. lives would be.” Ultimately, we know that our stories don’t
But by the grace of God, he decided to stay. And among have to end when we leave this life. When we experience
his many important contributions as a Directional Leader the grace of God through Christ, we can live forever serv-
for Life. Church, Bobby came up with the You Version Bible ing and enjoying God in heaven. And while I don’t know
App, an idea that has done more for Bible distribution for sure, that’s when I think the stories our lives tell will be
than any idea since the printing press. So if you are tempted taken to a whole new level. Because our stories are not just
to walk away, make sure to seek God, because you never our stories.
know what he might do if you have the courage to stay.

4. Go Our stories are part of an even bigger story. When you
Where is God leading you to go? What is he calling you stand at the fork in the road, have the faith and courage
to do? Does he want you to lead others spiritually, maybe to choose the hard path over the easy one when the hard
even start a small group? Maybe you’re afraid nobody will one is right. The choice is yours. The time is now. Start. Stop.
come. Maybe you’re worried you’re not good enough, that Stay. Go. To step into your divine direction.
you don’t know enough to do something like that. You don’t
even know what you’d talk about. But here’s the thing: if you Fast Facts:
don’t try, you will never know what might have happened. New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel is the founding and
senior pastor of Life.Church, a pacesetting multicampus church and cre-
I know what it feels like to start asking yourself questions. ators of the popular and free YouVersion Bible App. He is the author of
“God, I’m afraid. I need details! What’s going to happen? several books, including Fight, Altar Ego, Soul Detox, Weird, The Christian
What you’re asking me to do sounds hard.” And God may Atheist and It. Craig, his wife, Amy, and their six children live in Edmond,
answer, “First of all, I don’t give my children a spirit of fear, Oklahoma.
so that’s not coming from me. You don’t need details. You
need faith. And yes, it will be hard. But I didn’t call you to an Divine Direction is available from C.U.M Books and other
leading bookstores. Shop online at cumbooks.co.za