Today's question is a pretty cool exercise. Think of a commitment you made that you later regretted making. Maybe it's an ongoing commitment for something like volunteer work, or maybe it was just a one time event. Imagine that this is a commitment you haven't made yet. Briefly describe the commitment and then use the three questions below to evaluate the commitment:
- Is this right or wrong? (Yes or no, and why?)
- Will I enjoy this?
- Is this wise in light of my desire to stay grounded in what matters most to me and God?
Then to follow up, think about these questions:
- Would your responses to each of the above questions lead you to make a different decision? Or would it have been the same? Why?
- When you think about your existing commitments, which (if any) wouldn't pass the third question above?
- What prevents you from stepping down from these commitments?
For me, the thing I think of happened back in college my senior year. Going into that year, I had committed to being the producer for our on campus TV station. This made sense for me as that is what my major was: broadcast journalism. So career-wise, it made sense. It seemed right at the time. I also thought I'd enjoy it. However, once I got into it, I realized that it was a lot of hours that I wasn't prepared for. I had already been involved in dance team, my sorority, student senate, and a variety of other activities. I just didn't have the time to commit to the job. Based on this reality, I would say that it wasn't wise of me to commit to. I was only adding to my full schedule, pushing out time for God and adding in more things that ultimately ended up just creating more stress for me.
I finally ended up talking it over with a good friend, and stepped down from the commitment. This ended up being the right decision for me. I had to weigh how much was enough for advancing my career, while also balancing other activities and time. I decided that my job at the local TV station would be the better item on my resume for my career path, and that my other commitments outside of that were more important. After I stepped down, I felt a huge sense of relief.
I am thinking of the commitment I made to sing on the worship team at our church in England. It had been a long time since Kenny and I had even gone to church consistently and I really felt God was nudging me to get involved and to get plugged in. Shortly after volunteering just to sing, the current leaders told me they were moving back to the states and asked if I would take over!!!! I felt like I was supposed to do it to fill the need bc no one else was willing to do it. It was such a challenge for me having never led a worship team before and not having committed team members available for any sort of practice. Every week I found myself stressed out but God would come through every week. Some weeks it would be myself and maybe one other person, and other weeks it might just be me standing up there singing to a cd...far from anything I was comfortable doing!! I think God was teaching me how to let go of control and how to trust Him. Needless to say, I was so relieved when I found out I was pregnant and I had an excuse to step down, even if I still had to lead for eight more months!!!
ReplyDeleteI think I felt a huge sense of regret shortly after making the commitment bc I was thrown into a leadership role (which I would never choose!!) but now looking back I can see how God "showed up" for me every week resulting in a greater and deeper trust for Him.
Commitment is something I struggle with. I am not the person who has a hard time saying no to things. It is quite the opposite for me. So at the moment I feel like I am well rested and have plenty of time...I guess God is preparing me for another round of commitments, should be intersting :)
Great example! Do you think you'd say yes again, knowing what you know now?
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