Spiritual Solutions to Analysis Paralysis Purity 782

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a large outcropping of red rock underneath the blue skies— underneath blue skies— comes to us from a friend who is vacationing in the Southwest and shared this scene from their visit to the Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah, in the heart of red rock country. Capitol Reef National Park is hidden, is a hidden treasure filled with cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges in the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic monocline, a wrinkle on the earth extending almost 100 miles. The link to that national park is on the blog today. Well, it's Wednesday again, and today's photo might be part of a geologic monocline, but the close-up view of it made this portion of this wrinkle on the earth look like a mountain to me. So I share it to symbolically represent the hump of work, uh, the hump of our work week. Although this might not be a mountain, I guess it looks like— it sure looks like one. But when something is big and in your face, even molehills can appear to be appear to be insurmountable monoliths. And likewise, when our problems are present, daunting, and immediate in our lives, they too can take on, on what seems to be, well, they can seem to be too big to overcome. Oh boy. With a mountain, we can go over it, we can go around it, or we can choose to sit in its shadow and repeatedly proclaim that it's just too big and do nothing. I got mountains on my mind this morning because I recently had— have had chats with or heard reports about people who are facing big challenges in their lives right now, and they appear to be locked in analysis paralysis. For an apt description of all that— all the aspects of this phenomenon, we turn to, um, we turn to the apt description that I, uh, found on Wikipedia. Analysis paralysis, or paralysis by analysis, describes an individual or group process where overanalyzing or overthinking a situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become paralyzed, meaning that no solution or course of action is decided upon within a natural time frame. Do you know someone who overthinks things and ends up frozen? Wikipedia continues, a situation may be deemed too complicated and a decision is never made, or made much too late, due to anxiety that a potentially larger problem may arise. How about that? Have you heard of someone— have you heard someone lament that it's all just too complicated and they fear that whatever they will do will just make more problems? Uh, Wikipedia goes on: A person may desire a perfect solution but may fear making a decision that could result in error while on the way to a better solution. Know any people that don't do anything because they can't do it perfectly or fear that they will make a mistake or fail? Hold on, there's more. Equally, a person may hold that a superior solution is a short step away and stall in its endless pursuit with no concept of diminishing returns. Know anyone that just is just waiting on that one thing they need to happen before they can do anything and ends up standing in place because of that one thing rather than working on other aspects that aren't dependent on that one thing? Wikipedia has more: Analysis paralysis is when the fear of either making an error or forgoing a superior solution outweighs the realistic expectation or potential value of success in a decision made in a timely manner. This imbalance results in suppressed decision-making and an unconscious effort to preserve existing options. An overload of options can overwhelm the situation and cause this paralysis rendering one unable to come to a conclusion. Here we go. Have you known anyone who wanted to keep their options open to the point that they didn't do anything because they were open to everything? And finally, it— analysis paralysis can become a larger problem in critical situations where a decision needs to be reached but a person is not able to provide a response fast enough potentially causing a bigger issue than they would have had, had they made a decision. Ever see someone's situation get worse because they didn't make a decision, and while they stalled, circumstances changed or deadlines or opportunities were missed? If you have a fam— have had a family or friends for any length of time, I would imagine that you have encountered people or heard about people that suffered and one of the many aspects or wrinkles of analysis paralysis. Now, as varied and diverse as all these aspects of analysis paralysis are, they all have one thing in common: fear. Analysis paralysis involves someone fearing something— fear of making mistakes, fear of not doing something perfectly, fear of missing out on one thing because of choosing another, fear of limiting their opportunities, fear of the cost, fear of their own inadequacies. He said inadequately. Um, fear of failure, fear of change. Hey, and don't get me wrong, those things are scary. And in the flesh, when faced with a mountainous situation, the idea of going over that hump or around that hump or boring a way through that hump may just seem to be too hard. Let's just stay here seems like a perfectly logical solution when all those fears come against us. And even staying put can work sometimes. Unfortunately, I don't have the answer for each specific situation that you might face, but I can address the spiritual aspect of analysis paralysis and offer some simple advice that has helped me overcome what seemed to be some Himalayan-sized problems in my life. As Christians, what do we do? We go to the Word of God and the One who made all the mountains and who sent His Son to assure us that through Him we can move them. Now, rather than moving boulders and monolithic slabs of earth through the sky supernaturally, Christ's encouragement in Matthew 17:20, where He said, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will impossible for you. When he said that, he was, he was telling us that through our relationship with God, our, our trust in him, and our action, we can overcome what seems to be impossible tasks. In that section of scripture, the apostles failed to cast out a demon. But while Christ prescribed faith as a key part of success, he didn't just— he didn't say, just believe, brother. In this realm of spiritual warfare, he also directed the, the apostles to take action in prayer and fasting. Although these are admittedly spiritual practices, we have to realize their problem was very spiritual in nature— demons, right? So what about analysis paralysis? I'm not talking about demons, I have to make a decision. Well, your problem here is spiritual, as you are consumed by fear. The word tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." So we are not to be afraid. We are to trust the Lord who sees the beginning from the end and who is in control of all things. The world— the word also tells us in James 1:5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives it to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." God knows everything, so we need— so if we need wisdom, we are to ask him in prayer for wisdom and guidance. And after you do that, you take action. And all the while, you are to stay in the presence of the Lord to receive courage, strength, and wisdom while you walk over the mountain, go around the mountain, or walk right through the mountain. While we may be called to wait or walk through the valley of the shadow of death at times in our journey through through life, we are to never do it alone. Um, go to God and receive courage, wisdom, and confidence that tells us that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, through Christ who strengthens us. You know, get the strength and the wisdom of God and face those mountains. Decide on a course of action and go with God and see what happens. My bit of advice to those with, to those with God and are, and who are with God and are unsure of what to do is to trust the Lord and do something. When we walk with God, we have to realize that we are accepted, secure, and significant in him. And really, we, we can't make a mistake that we can't learn from. Or overcome. And because God is sovereign, we really can't miss out. Because God is sovereign, we can discern his will for our lives by the things that happen. If something you were really hoping, hoping and pushing for doesn't happen, it's okay. The failure to accomplish or receive something is an indication that it wasn't meant to be. It wasn't God's will, or it it means that you— that God's answer is not yet. I am often reminded of all the prayers I am glad the Lord didn't answer in my life. God has perfect knowledge, we don't. What we think will make us happy or fulfill us may not be best for us or may not be wise. So we trust the Lord and accept the cup that he gives us to drink, knowing that no matter what happens in this life, this earth is temporary. And our biggest issues and fears are resolved by God. Though this world will pass away, the Lord endures forever, and he has chosen us to be with him. So don't be afraid of making a mistake, missing out, or not doing it right. If the Lord is for us, who can be against us? Everybody. But who cares? God is in control, and he will lead us and guide us to ult— ultimate good in his kingdom. And if we decide to ask him for strength, courage, and wisdom and walk in his ways, he will even allow us to experience a little bit of heaven here on earth by giving us a peace that goes beyond all understanding that is not dependent on favorable circumstances or outcomes. So keep walking and talking with God. If you got problems, do something to to solve them. But make sure the first thing you do is to have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, so you will know that he is on your side and, and will help you over the many mountains, humps that you will face through life. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is Matthew 6:24, and it says, no one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Today's Bible verse are the words of Jesus Christ that compel us to make a decision with who we, we serve. Are we going to serve the Lord? Are we going to serve money? Can I do both? Not according to Jesus. Now don't listen to Satan and get this twisted. Other verses in the Bible speak of prospering and being diligent in work, so God is, is not calling us to be homeless and to forsake all material possessions. But obviously the Lord doesn't want us to focus on the wealth that we can earn either. Money can't buy us love, but it sure can take care of our material needs and help us to create peaceful environments and experience many good things, but it does not buy our way into God's kingdom, and it can't help us to pay for our sins. God does that exclusively through Jesus Christ. In order to be part of God's kingdom, we choose to be under the Lordship of Christ, so we have to choose to serve him with our hearts, mind, and our money. Where, uh, where our time and money is spent indicates our priorities. God wants us to spend it on Him in service to His Kingdom, and we must freely decide who we will serve. Money is temporary, God is eternal. Christ calls us to make a decision, and we must make a choice that will show that we are His. As always, I invite all to go to M.t. Clark.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ With our walk today, we continue sharing from Clinton Arnold's Powers of Darkness, and today's section says The Attempt to Ruin God's Redemptive Plan. There's one thing the enemy wants to do is to ruin God's redemptive plan, to draw people away from accepting Christ and to draw them away from their purpose in Christ. So if you— that's what I say about it, but if you want to hear what what Clayton Arnold has to say about that topic. Go to mt4christ.org to check out today's blog post, um, and you'll see it at the bottom, um, and get that wisdom, um, because we need to know, we need that wisdom from God. We need to be able to trust what he says, and, um, you know, if we test it, we'll discover it is good and it is true. God is for us, you know, when we walk with him. So if you're facing a mountain or in a situation of, of a life change, you know, the answer is usually you have to move on. You have to move forward. You have to choose something. You have to do something. You know, if you're not happy with where you are, or if the situation just, you know, if the writing on the wall says, "I cannot— you cannot stay here." We have to read that writing and we have to move and do something, you know. We can, you know, many situations in our lives we're going to have to decide to do something and make a course of action. And although we don't really know, or maybe we don't like all the options that we're faced with, you know, the option of doing nothing is an option that has a lot of negative consequences. Usually doing nothing really isn't an option. You know, you'll be forced, forced to do something or forced to suffer because of your inaction. So what's the solution? As we pointed out today, we are not to fear and we are to ask God for wisdom and to follow him and continue asking him for wisdom as we go. Just because we make a decision, you know, we're not locked, locked into a decision. We, we, you know, you can be the scientific Christian. Now, not a Christian scientist, that's another story, but you can be the scientific Christian who experiments with his life of faith, meaning not that you're gonna, you know, trust in other gods or anything like that, but in the fact that you're going to trust the Lord and see what happens. And, you know, in your experience, and, you know, test your discernment. Um, God will help you and give you wisdom, but sometimes you need to learn from your mistakes. And trust me, I've learned a lot from mine. Um, I wouldn't have, you know, I don't know if I would have, you know, quite frankly, I don't know if I would have learned the things I know today if it wasn't for my mistakes. Um, so You know, there's great value in failure and learning what not to do. So do something, and, you know, one way or the other, you'll learn and you'll grow. So, but when we trust the Lord, we're safe. You know, he can direct our paths and show us the way we should go, but we have to be open to him. So if you want to know more about the way you should go and, you know, how to live a Christian life, we offer our discipleship teachings that are on the blog and the well, on the, on the podcast and our YouTube channel, for Victor Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. You know, we have to resolve the spiritual and personal issues in our lives to walk free. That might be the do something that you need to do, and I would prioritize that. You know, my priorities are always, you know, I, or I encourage people to seek the Lord, you know, and, uh, to follow him, one and two. You know, basically, you know, you can't say, "What does the Lord say?" and go, "Yeah, that's— oh, that's interesting. I'll try something else." No, the Lord's wisdom is to be followed. You know, who are we going to serve? The Lord or money or our own selfish desires is, you know, what's really there. You know, there's a path that leads to life, and that path is the Lord's path. So let's follow it. Anyway, uh, today is Wednesday. For me, it is Friday because life is unfair. No, but you know, it is. And I have to work on Saturday because of the changes that the, uh, our schedule suddenly in a week's time. Um, so not only do I work this Saturday, but I work, uh, 2 weeks on a Saturday. Uh, so, you know, things change, and I will have to walk through this or over this mountain but I will do it with the Lord, and I'll do it with peace because, uh, hey, that's the way things go. If I don't like it, I can change, right? And I'll trust the Lord. Right now, the Lord's just not really directing me to change my career, as much as I'm wishing for a miracle to come in, you know, the miraculous offer for ministry, full-time ministry, uh, to come in that will fully meet all my financial needs and wants. Um, it hasn't happened yet, but I'm still praying. Um, but honestly, if I want to go that way, I got to start walking that way. And right now I'm in a season where it's keep walking where you are, and, and we'll see where it goes, um, as we keep going. And really, that's all we can do, um, put our best foot forward following the Lord and continue in that manner, um, and go wherever he leads. So that's what I encourage everyone to do, and that's what I'm gonna do. But first thing is I'm gonna pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for, you know, giving us— you know, for not giving us a spirit of fear, but a power, love, and a sound mind to help us to overcome the mountains and walk through the dark valleys that we might face in life, uh, that we can make and we can traverse that territory with, with, uh, with confidence and, um, with peace because of you. And so, Lord, we, uh, we thank you for that. We thank you for the people who might be listening today. Um, we're greatly encouraged to know someone, uh, is downloading the podcast. Someone's out there, um, receiving what we have to give. Um, and we just encourage you to keep walking and keep talking with God. We are praying for many situations in our lives, and we offer— Lord, we offer up the, uh, the listeners' requests as well to your throne of grace. And we ask for your help to help them in their walk and their situations. Lord, we pray for you to go before all of us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and help us to move into things we want us to do. Help us to best represent you here on the earth by doing the things you would want us to do in the way you would want to— want us to do them. Lord, we just thank you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.