“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bry
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance determines your destiny.” - Aristotle
God has given every man free will and deeply engineered in the soul of man is the power of choice. In Genesis 2:16-17 God instructed Adam and Eve by saying,
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely (unconditionally) eat [the fruit] from every tree of the garden; but [only] from the tree of the knowledge (recognition) of good and evil you shall not eat, otherwise on the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die [because of your disobedience]” (AMP).
God’s instructions were a divine directive loaded with options. If it was not a choice, then no consequence needed to be given; “if you eat you die.”
Because God has given us the power of free will, we have more to do with the outcome of our own lives than we would like to admit. We choose healing, we choose success, we choose forgiveness, we choose to harbor our past, and we choose to let it go. The list could be endless.
There are three voices that we can listen to; the voice of the father, the voice of the enemy or our voice. Wherever we are in life is the direct result of the voice we decided to listen to and follow. In John 10:27 Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (NIV). The majority of the convoluted state of affairs I found myself in were because I chose to ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit. I wanted my way instead of His.
Many believers today don’t know the difference between a consequence and an attack of the enemy. In the Christian world, anything negative that happens must be the devil. Seldom do we re-evaluate our choices. The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:7, “Don't be misled--you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant…” (NLT). In the midst of a difficult situation, the first question you should ask yourself is, “Did I sow this?
Pastor Andy Stanley wrote an excellent book called, The Principle of the Path. The premise being, if we leverage principles they will work for us, if we don’t leverage them, they won’t work for us. As an example, He used the law of Archimedes or the law of buoyancy. If we leverage the law of buoyancy, we will float if we don't we will drown. The Bible is packed with principles that allow us to live productive and abundant lives. It is not just a book to be read or skimmed over but, in fact, a guidepost full of wisdom and principles to govern our lives by.
God has given us wisdom which is the ability to live life effectively. Wisdom empowers us to make choices that are in line with His purpose for us. The Apostle Paul wrote in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (NIV)” You do not have to continue to live a life of defeat, chaos, dysfunction, depression, fear or shame you are, without a doubt, one choice away from victory!