Be Confident in Your Choices

 I was speaking to a friend the other day and we were discussing the difference between deciding and choosing. It was actually a really good conversation. It was definitely a lot longer conversation and much deeper then this example. Sometimes our conversations are frustrating, but I love to be challenged to think deeper.  I love when people can help me get my brain working to allow me to look at things with a different perspective. You can never stop learning or improving. 

TO DECIDE: make a choice from a number of alternatives.

TO CHOOSE: pick out or select (someone or something) as being the best or most appropriate of two or more alternatives.

His example: Pick Chocolate or Vanilla

Vanilla- why? Because I like the taste of it better. (I decided the best out of another alternative)

Vanilla- why? Because I chose vanilla. (confident in choice with no reason to explain) 

I was able to come to the conclusion that a decision is based off of reason and a choice is what you decide.  So in other words when you chose verses decide, you don't need to have a reason, you are confident in your choice. God wants us to be confident in our choices. 

In church on Sunday the message aligned with what we had spoken about and expanding on the fact that we can choose to find joy even in the midst of suffering. This life is not for us to find perfection, it is for us to find HOPE, despite suffering and find GOD. Not a God we fear but of one we have a relationship with. You will suffer, it is inevitable, everyone dies, that is inevitable, it is what we do with what we have while we are here that makes the most difference. If you have Christ in your heart, you are prepared for anything you face, because you can handle the hard, even when it is tough, even when you are scared, even when you feel less than qualified to do so. You can choose to rejoice in what God provides despite suffering. My friend I went to church with pointed out that she sees that in my Character, that I am a prime example of what the Pastor was discussing and this made my heart warm. My intentions are to put God first in everything I do, that is not what always happens, but that is what I always come back to and want to make center of my life. 

I actually woke up yesterday morning, confident in moving forward, grateful for everything and motivated to make a difference. I was ready to tackle everything that was sent my way, my ever growing to-do list and allow less distractions to divert me from the present.  I was confident enough in my decision not to send Paxton back to in person school just yet, that when asked even though I caught myself starting to give a list of reason "why" I decided this, I remembered my decision verses choice conversation and was confident enough to say, because that is what I chose. (no explanation needed)

We all tend to feel the need to explain our decision and this can really be tiring. We find reasons and excuses and justifications. Why can't we just chose to do something because that is our choice. We explain why we are late, apologize for things that are beyond our control, feel the need to say why our house is a mess or our car hasn't been washed, or why we don't want to do something. Please don't confuse this confidence with not weighing my options... I definitely weigh my options internally and maybe ask a friend or two for advice (even if I don't take it), but once I make a choice I need to be confident in it and not feel the need to explain it. If you notice a lot of people explain their decision or choice automatically without even being asked. I am confident that it is not necessary. 

Here is to God guiding me in many more choices that I have the confidence to make without having to give my reason. If I am confident in what I chose there should be no questioning by me why I chose it.
People will continue to question my choices, especially now and that is ok. I can handle anyone's questioning, doubt, or worry about the decisions I make because they are mine alone to make. I know we all know the saying about living a day in someone else's shoes. Unfortunately this is figurative and not something we can actually do... we can give all the advise we have based on knowledge, expertise and prior experiences, but we cannot choose how someone else lives, or even begin to know what they are experiencing or feeling. We can have empathy for them, but we are not living their life. 

If you are confident in what you choose, you should find peace, you are vested in God and his guidance and in tune with what your purpose is, there should be no doubting yourself, even when others might.  

Romans 5 1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.