My friend posted this question on Facebook yesterday: “Right now.  Today.  With what you are facing, how do you answer this question: ‘What’s the right thing to do’?”  I felt like it was a trick question.  Nothing is that simple. I mean, I know the right thing to do but there is a lot involved in doing the right thing.  The right thing is almost never the easy thing, the most desirable or least time consuming.  On the other hand no one wants to do the wrong thing.  So what do most of us do when we have decisions to make and neither option seems appealing?  That’s right, we do nothing.  We go look for our Fat Tuesday earplugs, find some Dove chocolates and watch Wisconsin take on Baylor.  When faced with a difficult choice, most of us do exactly nothing (except cheer on the Badgers, even though our bracket was doomed from the beginning, unless you’re one of my kids).

I am facing something, right now.  And besides the fact that I want to do nothing, here’s the kicker. Oswald Chambers says, “The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success.”  Even if I think what God is calling me to will turn out okay, I still most days choose to do nothing.  That way I’m not doing anything wrong (I like to set the bar high). Now throw in the reality that not only is what I am avoiding hard and time consuming but will also potentially end up to be a complete disaster? I’m no rocket scientist, but I’m beginning to think laying around and doing nothing is pretty smart of me.

“Dear Lord, doing the right thing is scary and uncomfortable and ugly sometimes (kind of like an ill-fitting pair of underwear).  What you are calling me to is the right thing (in so far as I can tell so far) but I really don’t want to do it.  What you are calling me to has disaster written all over it.  God help me believe that verse you gave me for my 2014: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us…” (Eph. 3:20).  Lord, help me to at least want to do the right thing, no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice, no matter the outcome.  I guess knowing the cost, the sacrifice and the outcome wouldn’t require any faith at all, would it?  Help me trust you and help me to choose obedience over nothing, every time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”