Tug of War-part 2

I published Tug of War a few days ago as a warning that opportunities may not always be what they seem.  But how do you know, when an opportunity presents itself, if it's something to pursue or not?  After all, God opportunities aren't exactly easy.  You can't base the decision on whether or not there are obstacles.  I have my own process that I go through to determine whether or not an opportunity should be pursued that I wanted to share with you.  There are three parts to it. 

The first is to balance it against my priorities.  God, family, and commitments.  Pray first!  Having said that, ask yourself questions such as:  How does this opportunity align with what I know God wants from me?  Are there things that He has revealed to me that this underlines, or detracts from?  If this takes away from my family, are they willing to sacrifice for it?  Do they support me?  What commitments have I made that might be affected by this?  If I am going to fail in any of these areas, then how can God be behind it?  The answer isn't always obvious though.  Maybe at first glance it looks like you are going to have to turn your back on a commitment (or something else) but after some prayer and thought, or a new perspective, what looked like a distraction becomes a catalyst.  That's why step two is so important.

It's important to run it by mentors, people that you look up to that have your best interest at heart.  Presumably you look up to them because they have succeeded in areas that you want to succeed in.  This gives them invaluable perspective into your life and situation.  They will see things that you don't.  "There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors."  They may look at your obstacles and see opportunities.

After these two steps, if it makes sense to move forward, but there is still some doubt, draw lines in the sand.  My husband and I had to make a decision about a career move.  We were quite uncertain about it, so we made a list of things that we felt needed to happen in order for us to know we were making the right decision.  I'm not talking about silly things, like make it rain or something.  No, there were obstacles that we felt would stop us from being effective in doing the job, so we "drew lines in the sand".  We listed the obstacles that had to be removed, there were many.  We walked forward in the process, praying as we went, and one by one the obstacles fell and we accepted the job.  What an amazing journey that was!

I hope this helps.  If you are in the middle of a tug of war and need a prayer partner, I would love to pray for you.  Please let me know!