Epic Family, 

Can you remember when we used to have so many choices being offered to us? It wasn’t that long ago that we could choose to travel anywhere in the world. We could go to the movie theater and choose which one of the fifteen movies we wanted to watch. We even had three opportunities to worship at Epic Church each Sunday and could choose to attend the 9:00, the 10:30, or the 12:00 gathering. We could choose which nice restaurant to linger in for our weekly date night. We could choose to invite people to spend time with us in our homes. Do you recall what a life filled with choices was like?

In this season, so many choices have been removed from our lives. I cannot choose to travel anywhere in the world I want to go. I cannot choose to have you over to my home. I no longer have the privilege of deciding which in-person worship gathering I will attend at Epic each Sunday. (Okay, I kind of have to attend all of them - but you no longer get to decide which one you will attend.) I do not get to choose who I’ll get to know better at our Focus Retreat at the end of this month. I do not get to choose what row I will sit on during my eighth grader’s graduation ceremony. You and I have lost so many of the choices we used to have. 

We now find ourselves on a path we never would have chosen. What do you do when you’re forced to walk a path you never would have picked for yourself? After the resurrection of Jesus, he appeared to Peter to restore him. Afterwards, Jesus told Peter what would be ahead for him.

John 21:18-19 “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

When we have to walk a path we never would have chosen, it does not mean God has forsaken us. If you follow the rest of Peter’s life, you learn that he doesn’t get fixated on how hard it’s going to be. He leans into his faith in Jesus and he lets God use his life however God sees fit. Though we may be walking down a path we wouldn’t have chosen, we must embrace the idea that we are not walking down this path alone. And we must also remember that God still wants us to make a difference with our lives.

Though it seems like we’ve lost all of our choices, there are some choices we still get to make. You still get to choose your attitude each day. You still get to decide what inputs you’re going to receive into your heart and mind each day. You get to choose whether you will be self-centered or interested in the lives of other people. You get to choose whether you lean into God during this crisis or whether you push away from Him at this time. Yes, some of your choices have been removed from you. But no, all of them haven’t. 

We must be willing to orient our entire lives around Jesus, even when we find ourselves on a difficult path. If you’re like me, you are all about following Jesus down the path you would have chosen for yourself. But what do we do in this season when we’re walking the opposite of the path we would have chosen? We stay engaged with Him and ask Him to end this(see previous emails I’ve sent about this). We surrender. We pray the way Jesus prayed when we found Himself on a path he didn’t really want to go down. 

Mark 14:36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

*If you have to walk a difficult path, what difference could it actually make to know that God is still with you?

*Though you’ve been stripped of many choices in this season, what choices do you still get to make on a daily basis?

*How can you personally continue to orient your life around Jesus and follow Him during this current season?

Let me also encourage you with this post from Shauna’s (my wife) blog:

Have We Gotten What We Prayed For?

Much Love,