For Christian education and nurture leaders.
God's Gift of choice
By Jill Landis
Some time ago, when I was in the midst of a vocational decision, Dallas Willard’s book In Search of Guidance helped me discover a new insight into the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. When the master gave the servants their money, Willard noted, he did not dictate how they were to use it—he simply asked that they make a profitable investment.
For a long time, I had assumed that God had a specific plan for the “whens and wheres” of how I was to use my gifts. I had seen how God moved and worked in my life, seemingly guiding me on one perfect path—and now I was being given a choice? I was scared, and it challenged my whole idea of God’s will.
But now I realized that God wants us to exercise choice. The third servant’s misconception of the master (a boss with a hard hand who would want his money used in a certain way) kept him from using his wealth and earnings. Unlike this seemingly harsh master, God takes delight in our discovery of our gifts and enjoys seeing how we choose to use them.
Youth and young adults face a horrendous number of decisions about schools, career paths, and marriage partners. If you are a mentor, youth leader, or otherwise involved in ministry with them, how do you help them discern God’s will? Do you see the will of God as a pre-determined pathway that we must stay on, taking the right road at the right time, with minimal choice of our own? Unfortunately, this view can cause serious and unnecessary anxiety for those making the decisions. What if I make a “wrong” decision? they ask themselves. What will God do? If I don’t go to a certain college or take a specific job or service assignment, will that negatively effect who, when, or if I marry?
The approach taken by the master in the parable allows us to participate in the decision-making process. We are given choices, and as long as we are considering our motives, seeking God, and desiring to use our gifts, we can be assured that our choices will be in line with God’s will. How can we encourage such a process?
1. Be available to listen and ask clarifying questions.
Often, people simply need someone with whom they can process. While it’s good for them to have another perspective, it’s not always best for you to try to give answers. Helping the other person move through the process is key.
2. Help them discover and name their gifts.
What skills and talents do they enjoy using? Where have they been especially affirmed in the past? If they aren’t sure what they would like to do, what gifts do they dream of or would they be willing to test? Suggest that their recognition of their gifts may be part of God’s leading in decisions.
3. Pay attention to the voice of the community.
Is there affirmation for the choice being made or the options being considered? A person may select a few people from whom he or she wants to seek guidance. Or, as I did with one decision, it could be helpful to get a group of people together to ask questions, listen, and help offer clarity (the Quakers call this a “clearness committee”; see page 18).
4. Encourage the person to pay attention to his or her own inner sense of call or direction.
God speaks to some people internally; to others God might speak more distinctly through people around them. Being able to factor in both of these things is important in the discernment process.
I am beginning to enjoy the freedom of choices set before me as I partner with God and choose how to use my gifts. Gerald Sittser, author of The Will of God as a Way of Life, captured my experience well when he said that as we look back in retrospect we can see that things happened exactly as God intended. God will give clarity when that is necessary for us. Still, it is as we journey through life, make our decisions, and look back, that we can recognize how God has been with us as our lives have unfolded.
Jill Landis of Harrisonburg, Virginia, has been involved in young adult ministry in the Mennonite church on the local, conference, and national levels. At time of writing she was in a career transition, working part-time as an intern at Park View Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, where she lives.