I’ve had a heavy heart for the last several days. To say we have had a lot going on in the Otto
household might just be an understatement.
We've had our share of difficulties and more than our share of blessings
in this last week, however that’s not why my heart is heavy.
Friday night, we had a lock-in at our church. We were fortunate to have 29 young people
between the ages of 6 and 18 at this lock-in.
We had a great time with games and activities and lots of fun, but the
most important and most moving part of the night was when my good friend
Brother Devin Hargrave preached a message out of the Book of Daniel. This message wasn’t the typical message on
Daniel, you know, the fiery furnace or how Daniel purposed in his heart not to
defile himself.
His message really boiled down to choices and the choices we
make in this life. I watched the young
people listen to Brother Devin preach. I
watched their faces as he spoke from the heart about other young people he had
ministered to in juvenile facilities—10 year olds in juvenile correction
facilities because of choices.
I watched their faces as Brother Devin talked about how kids made bad choices on who they hung out with and those friends got them in trouble. About how one boy told Devin that he hadn't done anything wrong, but that his buddy smarted off to a police officer and he got taken along for the ride in the police cruiser. I saw the looks in their eyes as Devin told of people in the Kentucky State Penn that he had ministered to because of choices they had made as young people.
What I saw on the faces of these children both amazed and
alarmed me. There were a couple of
preteen children who had a blank look on their faces. At first I thought it was because they were
tuning out the preacher, but then I looked closer and saw the pain of
recognition. They knew people who had
made poor choices and were paying the consequences for those choices.
As the preacher told the young people about a young man who
disobeyed his mom and dad and back talked them and argued with them incessantly
until his parents kicked him out their home, I watched the young people
struggle with this. The thought of their
disobedience causing their mom or dad to kick them out of the house was more
than some of them could take.
I saw a preacher’s kid fight to hold back tears and struggle
to keep his face together as Devin preached.
The pain in that kid’s eyes amazed me.
He was making some connections to the pain he had caused his parents
through disobedience.
I saw a girl wipe away tears as she listened to the preacher
tell the truth about choices. I saw a young man bow his head and begin to
pray, earnestly talking to the Lord. I
saw God work in many hearts and minds.
Later that night, the girls were over in the other building
and the boys were bunked down in the fellowship hall, “sleeping,” of
course. I began to talk to the Lord
about my burdens for these young people.
But then as I continued to talk with the Lord, I begin to think of
others that I have been burdened with because of choices they have made or are
about to make.
Choices can make or break relationships. Bad choices can ruin an otherwise bright
future. Choices made in haste can set
you on a path that you never intended to go down. Every choice that we have to make should not
be made lightly.
Philippians 4:6 tells us to pray about everything—every choice,
every decision, every opportunity. Do we
really do this? Do we really take the
time to pray and ask God what He would have us to do regarding something or is
it heads we’ll do option A and tales, we’ll take option B?
I’m burdened. I’m
afraid. I’m alarmed. Why?
Because many choices are being made that will have long reaching
consequences in lives all around me. Choices
are being made that might impact my church family. Choices are being made that
might impact my children. My friends are being impacted on choices they
have made.
There are several verses that the Lord has given me over the
years that just sort of stick in my mind.
One of them is in Joel, chapter 3.
This verse says simply “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of
decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”
Are you in the valley of decision? Are you at a fork in the road and not sure
which way to go? I wish I could tell you
which way to go, whether to the left or to the right, but I cannot. Be careful, friends, be careful with those
choices that need to be made.
