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One of the biggest struggles many people have is figuring out what to do with their lives. Is now the time to get married? Is this the person I should marry? Do we have kids now or have another one? Is now the time to buy a house, retire, start a business, or return to school?

We stress over these decisions because they have life-altering implications.

According to the Harvard Business Review, we make 33,000 decisions a day.

But making the wrong decisions about big and small things is easy. We all fall into various decision-making traps no matter how well we think we are making decisions or figuring out God’s will for our lives. If you listened to my sermon on Sunday, you know that I don’t think God’s will is as mysterious as we make it out to be.

In Galatians 1, Paul gives us a spiritual autobiography that helps us see how to make decisions and figure out God’s will for our lives by looking backward. In it, Paul talks about the importance of personality and wiring, our family of origin and time spent learning and waiting, and the confirmation of others.

4 questions to ask to figure out God’s will for your life.
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What matters most. One of the most quoted verses in Galatians is Galatians 1:10, where Paul asks, For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Who are you trying to please with your decisions: God or your parents, spouse, or someone else?
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Paul wants us to ask ourselves, who are we trying to please? Many people end up going to school, taking a job, or making a decision related to parenting to please someone. Paul wants us to ask, whose opinion matters the most to us? Many Christians would say, “Obviously, the answer is God,” but is it really in their lives?

Personality and wiring. God’s plan for our lives closely relates to how we are wired to the talents and gifts God has given us. We often overlook these as we think about God’s will for our lives or what is next for us, or maybe you grew up in a tradition that made God’s will sound like an awful punishment. To know what is next, look at how you are wired.

In Galatians 1, Paul talks about the importance of understanding how we are wired to what God has planned for us. Paul was incredibly zealous and driven. When God saved Paul, he didn’t change that part of Paul’s personality; he redirected that passion.

God doesn’t necessarily change our personality, gifts or talents; he redirects them for His purposes.
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The personality you have isn’t an accident. The gifts and talents you have aren’t an accident. But many of us miss what God has for us because we want a different personality or talent or don’t think we are as good as someone else. Yes, God molded Paul just like everyone else as he grew in his faith and maturity, but he didn’t change who God created him to be.

I wonder if we would see God move in our lives more often if we were available to be used by Him instead of caught up in how we compared ourselves to others.

I wonder if we would see God move in our lives more often if we were available to be used by Him instead of caught up in how we compared ourselves to others.
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This is why Paul starts with the first question in verse 10: who are we trying to please?

Time spent learning and waiting. An incredibly important part of Paul’s journey was the three years he spent in Arabia. Almost every person God uses greatly in Scripture and throughout history had a waiting period. Moses waited 40 years in the desert, Elijah ran out into the desert, David was in the desert on the run from Saul (even though he had been anointed king), Jesus was in the desert for 40 years, and so on.

We overlook the importance of the desert season of waiting. But if we skip this, we will greatly reduce our effectiveness.

If you are in the time of waiting, don’t fret. Look to see what God is teaching you and how He is preparing you. You may not be ready for what is next, or someone else may not be ready for what is next for you.

Many of us miss what God has next for us because we rush what we’re in right now.
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The confirmation of others. Lastly, Paul talks about the importance of others confirming what God has placed in you. In this passage, Paul discusses the importance of Cephas and James, two apostles whose words carried much weight.

When you share what God has placed on your heart with others close to you who know you well. What do they say?

While the opinion of others shouldn’t be a driving factor (remember verse 10), it is an important part of figuring out what God is calling us to do.

4 things that might be holding you back in life & leadership.
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To figure out what’s next, here are 4 simple questions to ask: 

• What matters most to me? What excites me and wakes me up in the morning?
• How am I wired?
• Am I prepared for what is next, or do I need to learn and discover more?
• Do the people who know me best and love me the most confirm what God has placed on my heart?

The post Figuring Out What’s Next for You appeared first on JoshuaReich.org.

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Every one of us experiences hard times, but we view those hard times differently. Some of us are surprised by them when they hit; others seem to expect them (and they miss the good times when they come); some see them as a nuisance you must deal with; others see them as moments to grow and learn from. 

Scripture tells us we shouldn’t be surprised by them. Paul goes so far as to tell Timothy: But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. Throughout history, Christians have debated if they are in the last days. We might be now, we might not be yet. But we should live with the awareness that hard times will come. We shouldn’t be surprised by them. We shouldn’t look for them but see how to learn and grow from them. 

That’s what Paul wants Timothy to do. He gives him a list in chapter 3 of things that can lead to hard times. In verses 2 – 4, he lists 19 different sins that can lead to hard times. To learn and grow from the hard times, we must know what can lead to them and what we should be pursuing out of them. 

Here is the list:

• For people will be lovers of self
• Lovers of money
• Boastful
• Proud
• Demeaning
• Disobedient to parents
• Ungrateful
• Unholy
• Unloving
• Irreconcilable
• Slanderers
• Without self-control
• Brutal
• Without love for what is good
• Traitors
• Reckless
• Conceited
• Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God

Look at this list; which stands out to you as you struggle? It is important to know because that area is where we are most prone to fall into temptation, but also the area that can lead to the greatest heartache and difficulty in our lives. 

The 19 sins can fall into 3 categories: love of self, pleasure, and money. 

Paul gives Timothy a charge on how to fight this:

To fight the love of self, pursue humility. 

To fight the love of pleasure, pursue integrity. 

To fight the love of money, pursue generosity. 

Why do this? Tim Chester says, “All too often, we think of holiness as giving up the pleasures of sin for some worthy but drab life. But holiness means recognizing that the pleasures of sin are empty and temporary, while God is inviting us to magnificent, true, full, and rich pleasures that last forever.”

All too often, we think of holiness as giving up the pleasures of sin for some worthy but drab life. But holiness means recognizing that the pleasures of sin are empty and temporary, while God is inviting us to magnificent, true, full,…
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All of us have lived through a challenging season. You might be in one now, just coming out of one, or one will be coming next year. 

They can happen when we least expect it: a disruption in our career or finances, a child that is hard to parent, a spouse who suddenly becomes distant, a sickness we didn’t expect or plan for, or simply life not going as we planned.

Challenges.

They are relational, financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical.

They know no limits. Challenges have no heart, so they aren’t worried about you and your survival.

The question isn’t if we will walk through them but how to do so. Often, especially as followers of Jesus, we are surprised when difficulties come our way. But we shouldn’t be. Jesus and the disciples all experienced difficulties. Jesus told us we should expect them and prepare for them. 

Difficulties don’t mean you are doing something wrong or have sinned; it might just mean you are alive. 

Difficulties don’t mean you are doing something wrong or have sinned; it might just mean you are alive.
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But what do you do when it arrives? How do you handle the phone call you weren’t expecting or the betrayal you never thought could happen? 

If you find yourself in that place or want to prepare better, here are 3 questions to ask yourself: 

3 questions to ask during a challenging season.
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1. What is God trying to teach me in this season? It is easy to get angry in a challenging season and blame the person you think caused it. You may be right, but doing that will not help you. Eventually, that will exhaust you, and you’ll still be in a challenging season. So take a day, be angry, and then wake up tomorrow and start looking forward. By asking this question, you begin to understand what God is trying to do, which is helpful because it takes our eyes off ourselves. God does not waste experiences and moments. He uses them for his glory and our good.
2. What is God preparing me for by having me in this season? Because God doesn’t waste moments, what we walk through today is helpful for tomorrow. Begin looking forward, looking, and asking God for what He is doing.
3. What is God’s invitation to me in this season? This question comes from Jim Cofield in The Relational Soul: Moving from False Self to Deep Connection. This has been a powerful reminder to me in moments of pain and hurt. Often, in a place of challenge and difficulty, God is stripping away my arrogance and confidence in myself and teaching me to rely on Him. 

But how do we move forward in that season? It is one thing to spend some time digging into what God is doing, but how do we live in a challenging season that might last for years or our whole lives? How do we live with the losses that pile up in life? 

How to survive a challenging season.
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In his book Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth, Samuel Chand lists five things we know about God or learn through difficult seasons:

1. God never abandons us, even when we can’t sense his presence.
2. Our faith and character are developed most powerfully in times of adversity.
3. God sometimes delivers us from pain, but he often delivers us through it.
4. Life’s most defining moments are usually painful experiences.
5. We do not grow in those moments by default.

5 promises of God to you in a challenging season.
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This post originally appeared on Ministry Pass.

Many pastors and churches like the theology of the Apostle Paul but not his drive and urgency.

Let me explain before you get mad.

Many pastors and churches like the theology of the Apostle Paul but not his drive and urgency.
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The Drive of the Apostle Paul (and a Pastor)

In many church circles, the Apostle Paul is held up as a theologian of theologians. In the reformed world, the book of Romans and Ephesians are ones every pastor loves to preach from and talk about. Yet, there is a drive in Paul, an urgency that many pastors do not have.

Why?

Pastors are shepherds. They are to be compassionate, have strong character, care for those in their church, helping and walking with them as they grow in their faith. All of those things are good and true.

In fact, when I bring up the drive of a pastor, urgency in ministry, or even feeling the weight of the church I pastor, someone will quote Jesus and say, “Jesus said he will build his church, not you, Josh.” And that is true, and I wholeheartedly believe that.

But feeling the weight of being a pastor, the calling of being a pastor, having a drive, passion, or urgency for what you do is not the same as not trusting Jesus to build his church.

Consider what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:28: And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Urgency

Throughout Acts we see Paul going into places, causing riots and being thrown in prison. Why? He was urgent about what God had called him to. His passion ran all through him.

As you read through Acts or the letters that Paul wrote, you see a deep care he has for the people he is writing to, the churches he planted and the people he is speaking to. You see him understanding their worldview, doing the hard work of understanding their belief systems, what makes them tick. Why? So he can better share the gospel with them.

As you read his letters, you feel the urgency he has. History will tell us that he spent a lot of time in prison and so was that where his urgency came from? Maybe. But think about the culture we minister in. Is it any less difficult? Is it more secular than the Roman Empire Paul was in? No.

An Example

I’ll give you an example, maybe this is extreme. Recently, a pastor reached out to me on Saturday night asking if I knew anyone who could preach for him the next day. I thought something horrible or catastrophic happened to him or his family, so I asked. Nope. He just didn’t feel it for tomorrow morning was his response.

When I read through Acts, I see a man driven by the passion of redemption that he experienced in Jesus. An urgency that says, “My life is not forever.” The moment Paul stands up to speak, you feel that this might be the last time he preaches.

If you’re a pastor, can you take control of your church and believe that everything rises and falls on your efforts? Yes. Is that a sin? Yes.

A Deep Calling

I also believe you can and should be a pastor who feels a deep calling to your church and your city and feels the weight of what God has called you to. If you don’t, I don’t know if you are serious about what you are doing, because so much hangs in the balance of what God has called you to. Eternities, lives, kids, parents, marriages, careers, hopes, dreams, joys and failures. We are brought into so many holy moments as pastors that we should always feel the weight of.

Remember, feeling the weight of something is different than feeling it is all up to you.

Feeling the weight of something is different than feeling it is all up to you.
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We have a saying at our church that we stole from another church. We tell our volunteers and teams, “Every Sunday is someone’s first Sunday at Revolution.” If you’re a church planter, do you remember your first Sunday? When you arrived at your new job at your new church, do you remember you first Sunday? The butterflies, the wondering if anyone would show up, what they would think, how you would connect, the excitement and passion you had. You probably put a lot of thought, energy, and prayer into that morning and sermon.

Let me ask you, did you put the same energy, prayer, and thought into your last sermon?

The post The Drive of the Apostle Paul (and a Pastor) appeared first on JoshuaReich.org.

Community is a hard and messy thing.

Many of us struggle with it because we are introverts, have been hurt by someone in the past, are selfish and want our way at all times or find it easier to just stay home and be alone with our hundreds of friends on Facebook.

Either way, we miss out.

In Galatians 6:2, the apostle Paul says that followers of Jesus are to carry each other’s burdens so they can fulfill the law of Christ.

To carry someone’s burden, to help with what weighs them down, you have to be close enough to carry it. Many of us do not have anyone close enough to help carry something. This is what I call waiting to build community when you need it. This ensures you will be alone and carry your burden by yourself. You have to build community for when you need it, not the other way around. You have to get past your fears, open yourself up to others and let them in.

What’s interesting about this verse is that Paul says it is possible to sin in two ways:

1. You can sin by not carrying someone else’s burden when they need you to.
2. You can sin by not allowing someone to carry your burden when you need them to.

The first one, most people would agree with. When you see someone who needs help, you should help. If you are able to help, do so. If you don’t, you are selfish and are a mean person. That one isn’t as big of an issue, although maybe that is a struggle for you because of pride and selfishness (Galatians 5:25 – 26).

The second one is what maybe catches us off guard. What if we try to do it ourself? What if we never ask for help? What if we never open ourselves up to community and the care others can give us or allow someone to carry our burden? We are sinning as much as the selfish, prideful person who won’t help. 

Why?

Both have missed community and relationships. Both of them have pride issues and think they don’t need help or others. Both lack humility.

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