People are really struggling during this global pandemic. Many are not even aware how much the stress of what is going on in the world is impacting them. I’m feeling it, and so I certainly believe others must, as well.
We live in a very chaotic world. As believers we pray for peace on the streets of America, wisdom for our leaders and for godly men and women to rise in leadership. The times we live in call for these things to weigh on our minds, and so we pray, as we should. We pray for justice in our country, for peace between people. A future exists post-COVID. God has plans and intentions for us.
The Circle of Control
In making decisions about how we choose to live, I want to represent decision making in two circles. Within the first circle – the circle of control – encompasses the things in our lives that we have no control over.
Things you have control over include:
- Your attitude.
- Your thinking. In fact, the scripture tells us to take captive every thought out of obedience to Christ. Philippians 4:8: Whatever is right and pure and admirable, praiseworthy think on such things. So clearly God has given us control over what we choose to think.
- What comes out of your mouth – what you choose to say.
- How you interact with others.
- How you choose to handle your finances.
- How you choose to handle your health.
We have this opportunity to make decisions about how we are going to choose to live as we go into this post-COVID world. “Figure out what pleases Christ and then do it” (Ephesians 5:10 MSG). We are to do those things that bring Him glory, and benefit our family, our community and ourselves.
We can decide and choose how we are going to do these five essential areas of our lives, building our faith, interacting with our family, handling our finances, taking care of our health and how we approach our work. These are five areas, and there are others that we do have control over.
Circle of Concern
The second circle, the circle of concern, are things that worry us.
- What’s going to happen with COVID?
- When is it going to end?
- Is there going to be a vaccine?
- What’s going to happen in the economy?
- Who is going to be elected the next President and the next Senate and House?
- What about my kids?
We have many concerns that we have no control over. Our circle of concern has grown in our world. It seems almost chaotic with all the things going. When we watch the news, go online or interact with people, the circle of concern weighs on us. We have to give everything within the circle of concern to God.
In my article about 3 Things you Need in a COVID world, I also recommend you consider this:
- Decide how you intend to live.
Making a decision gives you direction. The times we live in right now are filled with a great deal of fear and uncertainty. Some of you probably are experiencing it pretty significantly and maybe haven’t shared with others what you are feeling. Whenever there’s fear and uncertainty, it drives us to make decisions in our lives. We will witness people coming through this pandemic making decisions for their marriage, for their finances, for their work and it’s going to be reactionary, done out of fear and uncertainty.
It is important for those of us who are followers of Christ to decide how we intend to live in a post-COVID world.
Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord.” In ancient times, they cast lots. At the crucifixion they cast lots for the robe of Jesus. People took a small stone with their name or mark on it, and then they would throw the stones. Today we would throw dice or draw a card. Your lot was cast. You got what you got by chance. But the wisdom of Solomon in the rest of our verse says: “but every decision is from the Lord.”
We don’t live in a world of chance, even though it feels like it at times. Some of you have faced difficult things in your life, and you feel like it came out of left field. But God is not a God of chance. Ultimately, while we make decisions, the outcome is in God’s hands.
- Declare how you intend to live.
Setting a goal, declaring your intentions increases your commitment. Declaring whatever we’ve decided really reinforces it. There is nothing magical that happens when we say it, but something seems to happen inside of us when we declare it.
In our culture, we require people taking an oath of office to declare it out loud. When people get married, they declare their vows out loud. We stand together sometimes and give a pledge of allegiance to our country. Paul said “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10 NIV).
When we make a declaration of our intention for Christ, it’s not for his benefit; it’s for our benefit. It’s with the heart that we believe, but with the mouth that our confession is made. We say, “I love you,” to those we care about. Something occurs in our spirits when we make a declaration like that.
- Do the next right one thing!
Doing one thing daily to manage how you intend to live will result in progress, peace and purpose in your life.
In the Book of James, he reminds us to be doers of the Word. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:22-25 NIV).
So, those are the three things needed for our post-COVID world: decide, declare and do! Making a decision will give us direction. Declaring increases our commitment. Doing one thing daily to manage how you intend to live will result in progress, peace, and purpose in your life.
We live in a very chaotic world. As believers we pray for peace on the streets of America, wisdom for our leaders and for godly men and women to rise in leadership. The times we live in call for these things to weigh on our minds, and so we pray, as we should. We pray for justice in our country, for peace between people. A future exists post-COVID. God has plans and intentions for us.
There are some decisions you have to make. Consider this:
We have a feature online called The Intentionals, where I take a top ten list on a certain topic and list those tens things out. A few years ago, I created one that included the top ten questions that we need to ask ourselves when we are considering making an important decision, but I’ll note a couple of them in the list that are important as we make decisions about what our lives will be like in the future. (Get the complete list here.)
- VISION: Will the decisions I’m making for my life move me closer to a life goal or towards solving a problem in my life? Philippians 3:14 says, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (NLT). The decisions you make can move you in the right direction, the big picture of how you want to end.
- INTEGRITY: Will this decision affect any commitments or vows that I have made in life?
- GOD’s WORD: Does the Bible speak to decisions? As I’m trying to make decisions about my life and relationships and culture and what have you, what does God’s Word have to say about it?
- TIMING: Is this the best time to make a decision? I suspect there’s going to be a lot of people making decisions in the midst of this COVID-19 that they will later regret. We see some of the things going on in the streets of America that probably wouldn’t have happened six months ago.
Most of us are in the process of making decisions, so I hope you find it helpful to consider the circles of control, the circles of concern and then the process you go through to make a decision, because decision-making is important.
www.theintentionallife.com. Used by permission of the author.