Opinion Polls

Did you know that there’s a website you can check out that lists the approval ratings for everything from politics to the economy? It’s called Gallup.com. They keep a daily track of the general public’s approval of things such as the current president, past presidents, economy, the stock market, and so forth. Each day’s poll depends on what the people participating think. Their website says this: “Gallup's data provide irrefutable evidence on countless issues that are faced by 95% of the world's adult population. Before you make another decision that global issues and attitudes influence, make sure you have all of the facts. Acquire the power to understand and act on what the world is thinking.”

So let’s backtrack a week….
At “The Well” we began an in-depth study on Galatians this past week. (“The Well” is the official name of our new ladies SS class! It’s based on John 4.) This study’s already hitting home! Freedom. You’d think it’d be something really cool and well….. “free-ing” to learn and to grasp, but there’s more to it than that. One of the first questions that was asked of me by God as I prepared the lesson was, “What do YOU need to be freed from, Beth?” I already knew, but I think He wanted me to just come humble. After all, it’s an area that He’s already been working on in me this year, so it was an all too familiar question that I knew the answer to. I have to agree with one of my favorite Bble teachers when she says that before God ever allows me to teach a lesson, He has usually stepped all over my toes first! Ouch! Our study this week was Gal. 1:1-10. Verse 10 was God’s specific question for me. “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
You see, I have a history of allowing people’s opinions to steer me. Not all the time and maybe absolutely not in certain issues, but often enough that it keeps me from being truly free. God began revealing this to me many months ago, and I can honestly say that I’m a lot more free today than last year, six months ago, and even three months ago…..and yet, I’m still not free. Why? Because I still occasionally return to that pattern. Old habits are so hard to break! Even when it’s a pattern only in my mind, and not in ALL my actions, I’ve still allowed my emotions and attitudes to be in bondage....even some of my actions. I believe it is especially easy for people in ministry to constantly face this battle, so I don’t suspect I’m alone in my chains here. After all, everybody has opinions about what is best for the church, for the worship service, for the music, for missions, for your family, for your time, for your money, and for just about everything and everyone. Every minister (and his wife) hear lots of opinions every week.

Sean and I had to make a very difficult decision recently. It’s a decision that needed to be made several months ago, but we allowed various influences to impact our decision. Exhaustion, sickness, others’ opinions, the fact that maybe it didn’t really make so much sense to us, the why’s, how’s, and fears that came along with the uncertainties of figuring it all out first. I’m certainly not blaming anyone or anything, but ourselves though. It’s just easier when you already have enough fires to fight that you keep the fires to a minimal, right? Or is it? Isn’t that a lie? It’s not easy at all when you ignore what God’s telling you to do for what you know most will not approve! THIS fire needed to be our priority and it wasn’t. So, because we chose not to fight it, we ignored it. Stupid! The results were nearly disastrous for our family. I don’t want to go into great detail, but it concerned our teenage daughter’s education and her well-being. So, we spent the past week backtracking and doing what we should have done a long time ago. I’m so thankful that this “do over” did not harm or hurt anyone in the making too much! God’s grace! So, what did we do? We removed her from public school just 3 months shy of the end of the school year to homeschool her. Yet, it is clearly what God’s called us to do, and He has made it ridiculously clear. He’s even been sweet enough to affirm it to the point that I’d have to be an absolute idiot to not see it so clearly now. I love when He gives me billboards! LOL
Have you ever faced anything like that in your life? How did you respond?
I was pouring out to a very close friend this week, and she said something so true and necessary to me. I am so grateful for friends who love enough to do that. As I was talking about this situation and the reasons for doing it, I told her that I knew it was right, but wanted to be sure I respond with grace when other family/friends don’t agree or when I hear what they have said. She said, “Beth, you can’t worry about what other people say. Isn’t that what you are trying to teach your daughter?” Wow! She hit the nail on the head. One of the very truths I wanted my daughter to grasp was one I’d been caught up in my self! Paul says in Ephesians that it isn’t possible to try to please men and still be a servant of Christ. If I’m seeking to please people, I am wearing this “yoke of slavery” to sin. If I’m a servant of Christ, I’m free! Isn’t God as our Master so much better (and easier!) than man? That’s a load off right there!
Going back to this truth time and time again must become my new habit. How sweet is the Lord that as I am learning this truth, He would have my daughter beside me so that we learn it together.
My prayer is that she doesn’t seen the latest Gallup poll for her future decisions. Me either. I pray we both know the facts…the only source of real truth, and that we act on how HE leads us. Only there, will we find consistent and lasting freedom!
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1