Are we a product of our environment or are we simply who we
always were to be? Am I Braedon because my parents gave me that name, I grew up
in the Midwest, went to public high school?
Or am I who I am because it’s what
my DNA always said I would be?
I believe our environment has a lot to do with it. I’m not
going into all of the sociology and psychology of “nature vs. nurture” (though
that stuff is so interesting to me), but I have been thinking about how the
people around us really play a big role in our decision-making.
We have all hit those points in our lives where we are faced
with several different BIG opportunities and we are not sure which path to
take. We have this feeling in our gut that says one path is the right path, and
another path is the wrong.
Living in such close community with so many wonderful,
prayerful, and caring men and women, when you reach these paths it almost seems
more difficult to make these decisions. There is always a feeling of black and
white, as if God is going to give me a “Yes,” or a “No.”
But what would it look like if God was presenting me with
several different opportunities and He left it up to me to decide what to do?
Because in reality, if a choice is made to walk through Door #1, there needs to
be a solid effort to glorify Him in any way possible. And if the choice is Door
#2, can God still be glorified?
I’m convinced, more and more, that God is taking me through
a season where He’s leaving it up to me. He doesn’t want to give me a “Yes,” or
a “No” because He wants me to “own” what decisions I make. It would be so easy
to do what most people do in this case: sit on my couch with my arms crossed
just waiting for God to throw something at me. But it’s not that black and
white. He’s telling me the choice is up to me, and in that choice I should
glorify Him.
I’ve got dreams and passions. But if I just sit here waiting
for a “Yes” or a “Go,” (which I’ve done most of my life) then I could miss out
on some really good opportunities to glorify God.
So pursue I shall. What comes out of it, I do not know. And
I cannot expect everyone to join me. But “a man has got to do what a man has
got to do.”
Thanks for reading.
