On choices
I realised something about choices this morning. In terms of feasibility, a choice is never ‘either or’; it is always ‘both and’. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a choice. That you even have a choice denotes that you have two or more viable options, and the emphasis is therefore in the act of choosing and the agency behind that act.
I would like to state at the outset that I am now talking specifically about choices that fall outside the moral realm of right and wrong. I know that we can make this issue much more complex, but for the sake of what I hope to be a rather short entry, let us accept this simple distinction. What I’ve slowly started to understand while waiting for an answer is that there is no absolute ‘right’ choice. I’ve wanted the answer to come to me, when really, it is me who will need at one point to act. And as Nathan (my friend in the entry below) pointed out, God’s will is in the act of choosing.
The assurance is this: that God is sovereign over all our choices. We see this in even the most destructive choices, such as when God was willing to pour out His blessings on Israel even after they had denied Him as king so long as they chose to seek Him (cf. 1 Samuel). Reason being that all good things come from God (David writes ‘You are my Lord; apart from you, I have no good thing’ in Ps. 16:2) and He knew that they could only have those things by being close to Him. Unfortunately, as 1 Samuel shows, the human heart is many times unable to surmount the hardships that result from a bad choice; and this is a reality that we need to take responsibility for.
But while there is no ‘right’ choice, there is a ‘best’ choice. And in the words of John Piper, the ‘best’ choice ‘always involves more decisions than the one you are making at the moment’. It involves the whole thing. And the best is found when we abide in the one who created us, who knows exactly what we need.
The comfort taken in this assurance fits well with one more nugget of wisdom, this from my best friend last night. She noted that at the end of the day, whatever job you choose, you won’t remember the technical aspects of installing a bar (she is an occupational therapist), marking assignments (if you’re a teacher), or whatever have you. You will remember the people. You will remember helping someone find a home, teaching someone a new concept, creating a new paradigm through the act of writing a book. It’s not about the job; it’s about the vocation. And that vocation is about seeking God and serving His people. Of course, this essential element needs to be held in tension with your specific skills and giftings. But I like the freedom that this knowledge brings, especially as it only requires you to look up, not left or right.
