We’re ALL governed by our choices and decisions. Whatever is happening in your life – whether good or bad – at the end of the day and when it’s all said and done, in most instances you can trace your current circumstance(s) back to some choice or decision.
I’ve given up believing that bad circumstances are “tests” from GOD or Satan is meddling in my experience(s). Life is fraught with pitfalls, obstacles and disappointments. Living is an arduous journey. Why do we further complicate our journey with a false narrative that GOD is somehow reduced to humanity’s frailties and insecurities simply to secure our love?
Why do we foolishly embrace the idea that Satan is equal in power with GOD and he too has influence in our lives? I think it’s because many of us are averse to taking personal responsibility for our actions. In other words, if it isn’t another “test” of GOD, it has to be Satan’s dastardly plan – leading us around like mindless puppets doing his bidding. We’ve effectively put Satan on equal footing with the CREATOR.
Fortunately, I’ve taken a different course in ferreting out the cause(s) of my own circumstances. Instead of pointing to the CREATOR or Satan, I’ve turned my fingers around and pointed them back at me. This liberates me from the irrational spookiness of religion and allows me to see the CREATOR in a far more rational, and I dare say, beneficial way than what I was traditionally taught.
Today when I’m mired in a bad circumstance I don’t hold to the notion that I’m being “tested” by the CREATOR. What I’m required to do as a rational and free thinking man is trace my current situation back to the moment(s) a decision was made that informs the circumstance. It may not even be a choice or decision I’ve personally made, but it’s a decision that nonetheless impacts my life.
You see, we make GOD out to be some cynical and insecure abuser who has to employ test after test after test and still more tests to prove our love and secure our faithfulness. When in reality, it isn’t some supposed test of GOD, it’s merely the choices and decisions that we’ve made.
A practical way of looking at this is to examine your own circumstance(s). Where ever you are in life right now – whether good or bad – can you pin point a decision that was made that helped to land you in your current situation? If your marriage ended badly because of infidelity or abuse or a number of other things, someone in the marriage made a choice to cheat, abuse, etc. If you’re up every night at 3:00 am eating pork chops, ice cream and potato chips, your bad health is a function of bad choices and not the whispers of Satan in your ear. That all important job interview you were late to because of a flat tire wasn’t Satan’s trick, you’ve been driving on bald tires for months. You made the foolish decision to not prioritize your spending. GOD is NOT going to peel back the ceiling of the universe to move snarling traffic or find you a parking space at work, it was YOUR choice to heavily drink alcohol the night before causing you to oversleep – again.
As we journey through life, we’re ALL going to make both bad and good choices. This reality is reflective in our personal lives and interactions with other people. It’s the decision(s) of an employer, manager or supervisor that temporarily or fatally impacts the trajectory of someone’s career or employment. It’s the choices of people in our financial institutions that impact both the national and global markets. It’s the choices and decisions of people-led world governments that fosters conflict, war, famine or the prosperity of a nation.
My relationship and walk with the CREATOR has yielded me a critically important realization, I’ve got to and we ALL must take responsibility for the choices and decisions we make in life. It’s NOT another “test” of GOD. It’s NOT Satan’s puppeteering. It’s me! It’s you! It’s US!
Ron Holland is the host of the Public Affairs show, ‘COMMUNITY VOICES’ on WOSF – Old School 105.3 and WPZS -100.9, Charlotte. He’s also a Producer and Assistant Production Mgr. with both stations. Any thoughts on this week’s commentary, send Ron an email: ronholland@radio-one.com
