Now God

This Sunday, we will continue our series Choosing to Cheat with part Two: Now God. Here’s a sneak peak:

In the Old Testament, a man named Daniel faced a dilemma. Daniel had to decide who he was going to be loyal to—his Heavenly Father or his earthly king. He couldn’t have it both ways. He had to choose whom he was going to cheat. 

Every day we make choices as to how we’ll use our time and prioritize our lives. We often face a dilemma similar to Daniel’s. Who’s going to be our priority? Who are we going to cheat?

God takes full responsibility for the life that is wholly devoted to him. If we choose to reallocate our limited time according to God's priorities, we actually make space for God to intervene in our life in an exciting way.

Daniel had a “now God” moment when he did this and proposed a test. Daniel specifically identified what he desired to see changed regarding what was expected of him at work. He presented his plan to his boss and listened to the objections from his supervisor. Then Daniel asked his boss to test him in it for ten days.

There would not have been a “now God” moment for Daniel, if he had not made the decision to step out and trust God.  When you decide to order your life, family and marriage the way that God desires, you have no idea what God is capable and willing to do in the arena of your career.

To follow the series, you can download the full messages here.

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel,… (Daniel 1:8-9)

Choosing to Cheat

In our culture, I think it’s pretty safe to say that work and family make up the two most significant and time-consuming arenas of our lives. It can be a struggle to juggle the demands of maintaining a career and a family. Success or failure in either category directly impacts and affects our lives.

The problem we encounter, is the reality that there is just not enough time to get everything done. We can’t do everything. Someone is going to get cheated. Worse yet, somebody is going to feel cheated.

This Sunday, we will begin a new series, Choosing to Cheat: Who Wins When Work and Family Collide? For those of us who wrestle with this ongoing tension, it’s going to be an honest look at the reality that although we will need to cheat somewhere with our time, we must make a decision not to cheat our family and the people who matter the most to us.