Have you ever had to make a really hard decision? A decision that in a previous season would have been a “no brainer” and you would have celebrated with a Starbucks? My current season has made what would be previous “no-brainers” very difficult. I recently wrote A Hard Pill To Swallow about the difficult decision to step away from youth ministry. This decision still hurts, as I miss my girls. 

This week I was hit hard when I received a phone call to be a long term virtual substitute for the county’s virtual academy. An opportunity to bring in income in a current world where nothing is reliable. The kicker is it was to teach social studies! My heart practically leapt out of my chest for the opportunity to teach a subject I love. 

I wish I could tell you it was easy to say no to the opportunity and yes to my current season, but instead I have been wrestling with it for days. I also wish I could tell you the rest of the week my children loved my lessons and praised me for my efforts to make class interesting. 

Instead I was slapped with a big ole reality check. 

My kids do not appreciate my teaching. They whine, they complain, they ask “how much longer?” roughly five minutes into the lesson, and often ask “why do we have to learn this?” After being offered an opportunity to be PAID for teaching again, I was over it. I snapped at my 13 year old and informed him I could enroll him back into the public school today and he could instead sit in front of the screen from 9-4 like all his friends. Not my finest parenting moment. 

I had written something else entirely for my Monday’s post, however I was reading from Proverbs 16 and two verses hit me like a slap in the face. 

Proverbs 16: 1 

The plans of the heart belong to man,

    but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

So much of my heart wanted to say “yes” to the opportunity to do something for myself, to bring home some income, and to build my resume. But, God gave me the answer. He has reminded me saying “yes” instead to my children is doing something for myself and it is the opportunity to build God’s kingdom. 

I know I am not the only one stuck in the middle of some hard decisions right now. 

Decisions where your heart wants you to say one thing, but God gives you the words to say another. I want to encourage you right now to allow God to speak for you. He will give you the words you need, even though it feels really hard. 

Then I read
Proverbs 16:3
Commit your work to the Lord,
    and your plans will be established.

During the hard decisions and the hard seasons, if we commit to the work God has established for us in this season, He will establish our thoughts. 

How amazing is it to know that He can actually change our heart when we commit to His will? Our plans will no longer be our own desires but that of God. 

It is not just saying we will do it, but actually doing it. Following through isn’t always the easiest but when it comes to the work God has given us, we need to make it priority. Now, if you have been reading this blog for any length of time you know I am the worst at following through with God’s calling for me. I ran for ten years from Him. I do not advise it. 

This is a new week. A new opportunity to allow God to answer and to commit to His work. 

What work has God given you to accomplish by committing to Him?