Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
April 15, 2007 - W0715

Today we will make something that seems complicated very very simple. We will be talking about the power of one – specifically the power of one choice. These are choices that we all must make.

Three hundred forty six people died in an airliner crash in France due to one cargo door that did not close properly. A single electoral vote could have made Aaron Burr President of the United States. Joan of Arc, a lone woman saved France. Martin Luther changed religion. A single man as in Moses or David can change history. One person – with God -can change the world. One man or one woman who trusts in God can accomplish anything.

One choice can alter our lives and the lives of so many others around us. Sometimes our devotion and choices for Christ can seem complicated but they are not and should not be. Paul said that our devotion to God should be pure and simple and anything other would a distraction from our devotion to Christ.

We should make what seems like complicated decisions into simple ones. Biblical heroine Esther was one that made a complicated decision into a simple one. She was the Queen of Babylon and wife of King Xerxes. Haman, a royal court official had devised a plot to destroy Mordecai and the Jews in Babylon. Mordecai begged Esther to intercede with King Xerxes on the behalf of the Jews. Unfortunately, disturbing the King without his permission was punishable by death even for a queen.  So she was reluctant and so Mordecai said, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” (Esth. 4:14). In other words, prophecy will be fulfilled whether you participate or not. So once Esther made the decision to play a larger role in God’s plan and prophecy, her path became simple. She accepted the risk to herself and went to King Xerxes. When she beseeched King Xerxes, Haman’s evil plot was discovered, Haman was condemned to death and the Jews were saved. To this day the Jews celebrate Purim, which is the holiday celebration of the choice of one that saved the Israelites.

God says that help and deliverance will come as part of His divine plan so make a choice of your role in that plan.  Choose no part, a small part or a big part. But there are …

THREE SINGULAR CHOICES WE MUST MAKE

1.     CHOOSE THE PART YOU WILL PLAY IN GOD’S PLAN.

As the Bible says, “… the scriptures must be fulfilled” (Mark 14:49 KJV). In the end we all will find God is true and man is not. All Biblical prophecy is going to happen anyway, so what part are you going to play? Remember, there are consequences to every choice because the Bible says, “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” (Luke 22:22). Scripture also reinforces, “He said to His disciples, ‘It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!’” (Luke 17:1). So you want to play a big part or a small part? You want to be the good, the bad or the mediocre? You have to choose.

Moses traversed the great desert for 40 years before coming to the Promised Land. Though God had given the Jews the land they still had to enter and claim it. So Moses sent 12 scouts into the Promised Land first. Ten came back and said that the land was too harsh and uninhabitable. Only two, Joshua and Caleb reported that is was a good land and the Jews should enter. Because the first 10 had no faith in the Promised Land, God said to keep them out but to let Joshua and Caleb enter. It is as if God had said that for those that think it will be difficult, it will be difficult.  For those that think it will be easy, it will be easy.

So the second singular choice is …

2.     CHOOSE YOUR MEASURE OF DIFFICULTY.

The depth of your Faith will determine the level of your success. As the Bible says, “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it” (Num. 14:24) and “Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘It shall be done to you according to your faith.’” (Matt. 9:29). This means that God allows you to choose the level of difficulty in whatever you choose to do. For example, I have done a lot of marriage counseling and have never encountered a “problem marriage” but have met a lot of problem people that happen to be married! They could have chosen to make the marriage easy but instead chose to make it difficult by refusing to change. You have a choice. You can be mean spirited or you can build bridges between people.  You can try to make things difficult for others or simple. You can help others to succeed or you can step on them to get ahead yourself. For God, you should have a “can do” attitude.

George Mallory who climbed the great Mount Everest three times and died on the third attempt once said that he would be victorious over Mount Everest because the mountain never changed but man did. As long as we are willing to change and have enough Faith in God we can make any task or mission successful.

Take note though, that simple is not necessarily the same as easy to us. We can make life so simple if we are willing to change but old habits die slow. Our pride often causes life to be hard for us. Pride can work for you in the beginning but it will work against you later in life. It can become your greatest foe and may even kill you.

So choose your part in God’s plan, your measure of difficulty and then lastly …

3.     CHOOSE YOUR OWN GRADE FOR YOUR LIFE.

The Bible calls upon us to make a choice: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants” (Deut. 30:19).

What kind of marriage do you want? You can choose the grade for your marriage.  Will it be an “A” marriage or a “B” marriage or worse? God allows us to choose our own grade. Once we make the three choices we have discussed today life becomes simple. We then know what to do in all our decisions. We will know to what and to what level to invest our time, energy and resources because we will know who we want to be, how difficult we want life to be and what level of success we desire. If we want an “A” marriage, then we will put an “A” effort and time into our marriage.

During World War II, Holland refused to make a choice as to whether to join the Allies or the Nazis so they announced that they would remain neutral in the war. Shortly after, the Nazis invaded and conquered Holland. So do not choose to be neutral. Do not choose “no decision” in the three choices that we have discussed today because Satan will not respect your artificial boundaries

When I was much younger and had “brainfreezes” during my math tests, my teacher would give me a hint by telling me to start with the basic theorem and all else would follow. It is almost the same in real life. Start with those three choices and all else in life will fall into graceful place.

But here’s a hint: choose to play a big part in God’s plan, a “can do” attitude and an “A” grade life.  Start there.

There are three singular choices that we must make in life that will simplify everything we do. First, because God’s plan and prophecies will be fulfilled we must choose what part we will play in His plan.  There will be consequences for what we choose or not choose. Second, we must choose the measure of difficulty we want in our life because everything is as easy or hard as we choose to make it.  The depth of our faith and our willingness to change will determine the level of success we achieve. Lastly, we must choose what grade we want for our life. For everything we do we must decide how great we want it to be or how poorly we want it to be. Once we make those three choices, all other choices become simple because then we will know what and how much time, effort and resources to put toward that endeavor. I think we should all choose to play a big part in God’s plan, have a “can do” attitude and choose an “A” grade for our lives.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1. What is your role in God’s plan?
2. When have you decided not to participate in God’s plan and what happened?
3. How have you made life difficult for yourself?
4. How could you have made life easier for yourself?
5. What are some of the things that you have chosen a high grade to achieve?
6. What are some of the things that you have chosen a low grade for?
7. What seemed to prevent you from choosing to make things easy and simple for yourself?
8. Why not choose a high grade for everything?