The Option Detox: A guide for when you have 12 godzillion choices
You and I can kill ourselves trying to figure out our specific “calling.” Are you supposed to clean at your local chapel or wash the dishes at your mother’s house? Are you supposed to become a missionary to Africa or build the next Coca-Cola and give the profits to the missionary in Africa?
These kinds of questions are crazy. And they can drive you crazy too. You and I need a way to sift through all these options. We need a detox. Thankfully, God already knows this and has supplied an answer.
Considering the post on Option Overload, you might think this is about eliminating options by cutting them out. It’s not.
This is about avoiding option overload by realizing the options don’t matter (as much as we think). Peace does.
Here’s what Paul says about options:
“Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. ” -2 Corinthians 2:12-13
Three parts to note:
- “a door was opened” = available option
- “I had no rest my spirit” = no peace in available option
- “taking my leave, I departed” = he didn’t continue in the available option because he had no peace in it (even though that option was preaching Christ’s gospel)
Lesson: You don’t have to take every option. It’s better to leave an open door than to have a restless spirit.
Over the summer, I read a book called The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. The book argues that too many options freeze our ability to act. This is devastating for a bondChristian because a frozen bondChristian can’t serve others.
Part of the antifreeze is found in the verses I just quoted: Paul’s not led by which options are available to him – he pursues what gives him rest in his spirit. And he continues:
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” -2 Corinthians 2:14
Two words to note here: “always” and “every.” God wants us to maintain peace in our lives, but often that peace comes from knowing that no matter which option you and I choose, God will lead us in triumph… always and in every place.
This switched what I believed about options
I once thought God only had one plan for each of us. I thought that in every situation, God had one perfect path for me to take. I thought if I didn’t choose that one perfect option, then I’d sin. God would still work it out, but in that case I’d not lived up to my full potential in Christ. I no longer believe that.
Now I believe God gives us many options – perhaps an infinite number of options? – and many of the options are perfectly good. Let me run through how this works with a practical example. Say God opens one door to give $100 to a homeless person and another to give that same $100 to a native missionary in India. Which option is the “right” option?
Run it through the Option Detox
1. We already know that we don’t have to take every available option – that’s impossible anyway – so we don’t have to stress about not being able to give to both.
2. Now which option gives you peace? Often you’ll find the answer here. If God specifically doesn’t want you to continue with a certain option, you’ll know. How? You won’t have any peace. God will reveal through prayer, fellowship, or Scripture which option will give you peace. But what if many options will give you peace?
3. Then it’s up to you. This is the coolest part, and the part I mess up the most. I’ll freeze here because I feel that every decision has a bad option lurking to bite me. But God doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes He gives us the choice between good and good. Neither is better – just different. If that’s the case, then you get to choose to give to either the homeless or the missionary.
In other words, go ahead. God doesn’t worry much about which option we take – He’s mostly concerned with our attitude toward Him and peace in Him. We’re going to win. We’re already winning. God’s knowledge is present with us wherever we go. But we have to go.
The Option Detox isn’t about cutting out options before they come to us – it’s about going ahead with one. By doing that, all the others are eliminated by default, and you can have peace in your decision.
Serving Suggestions:
(1) Go for the Option Detox. Stop freezing up, waiting for the “perfect” option to come along. God might be offering you a choice between good and good. If you have peace in an option, go for it. Decide.
(2) Run the Option Detox on a decision you need to make. Is it a decision between “good and good” or “bad and good”? You’ll know because in a good/good situation, you’ll have peace in all the options. When you start thinking like this, you’ll be able to make decisions more effectively and with less regret afterward.