Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the Lord commands concerning you.” (Numbers 9:8)
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto/macniak
Life is about making choices. Throughout one single day, we make dozens of choices. From simple ones, like choosing our clothes in the morning or what to have for breakfast, to more significant ones, like choosing which job to apply for or which proposal to accept.
There are choices that change the course of our lives. When it comes to making an important decision, timing is also very important.
We might think we need to take action now, we can’t wait. But sometimes, waiting is a valid option that you must seriously consider.
Let’s take a look at an example from Acts 1:12-26. After Judas died, Jesus’s disciples knew that God would prepare a substitute for him, someone to be the 12th disciple in his place. So they decided that Judas’s empty spot should be filled by one of them at that time, no waiting.
Matthias was the chosen one, after they cast lots between him and Joseph.
The Scripture isn’t clear if the method they used for casting lots allowed for neither of them to be chosen. Besides both men, they needed one more option that would tell them that they shouldn’t choose either of them.
If they had three options and the lot fell on Matthias, we would’ve known that God could have chosen otherwise if He wanted to.
In spite of their careful selection, maybe neither Matthias nor Joseph was the one God had in mind. Maybe the 12th disciple was yet going to persecute Christians before he had a life changing encounter with Jesus. And it would still take years before he started preaching the Gospel.
I don’t want to argue if Matthias is the 12th disciple chosen by God or not. I think there are valid arguments for Matthias and for Paul too.
Personally, the fact that Jesus himself called the disciples to follow Him, and He did it also with Paul, and also Paul’s importance for the church, makes me wonder… What if the disciples had asked God if they had to replace Judas right away, before acting upon it? What if they had waited just a while longer until they received the Holy Spirit, would they have done it differently?
Right now, it doesn’t make a difference for us which one was in fact the 12th disciple for God, but there’s a lesson I learned from this episode: sometimes I think I’ve analyzed all options and came down to the best ones. But until I hear from God, I can’t really be sure. Maybe there’s another hidden option, which is the one God wants, but the timing isn’t now. So I have to wait for it, and not make any choice right now.
So if you have an important choice in your life right now, remember to consider choosing “neither” until you hear from God.