Wisdom for Making Good Choices
Reflection
Lately, I’ve been itching for change.
I’ve recently become obsessed with cheap real estate outside of Atlanta. For the same price as my modest little home in Decatur, I could afford a home with twice the space if only we moved 30 miles or so outside of the city. (Never mind the nightmare commute that would come along with it.)
While I enjoyed dreaming up the possibilities for a new change of scenery, it occurred to me that all this itching was coming from a place of boredom—yet another symptom of COVID fatigue. Learning to work from home during the coronavirus has been a struggle for me since I work best when surrounded by other people. I miss collaborating with my coworkers, getting their feedback, eating lunch with others while we talk about what we’re working on or dreaming up. So, my distraction was to poke around on Zillow and find new surroundings.
Friends, boredom is not a healthy place from which to make a good decision. It has led to recklessness and the spread of coronavirus and the abandonment of safe practices that we all know are helpful. Boredom can cause our convictions to dwindle and our healthy habits to halt. Boredom can motivate us to seek greener pastures elsewhere, and well, we all know how that works.
Neither is fear a good motivator. Fear has been the feeling permeating the atmosphere of late. Politicians spout fear-mongering and the news causes me much fear over the virus. The state of the economy has me worried. Overall, there is a lot of fear pinging around in my head, and I suspect I’m not alone. But this too is not a healthy motivator for decision making.
In times of fear, it does no good to act brashly from that emotion, but to instead make decisions based on wisdom. The book of Proverbs lauds the pursuit of wisdom as a healthy and Godly reaction to fear. In the first chapter, we read, “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:5-7, NIV) If you find yourself consumed by fear, know that Proverbs would have us seek wisdom and grow in knowledge, listening to experts and following the lead of wise counsel.
Are you like me, itching for new surroundings for an end to the new way of life this pandemic has handed us? Consider your motivator. If you are considering making a big life change, assess whether boredom or fear might be in the drivers seat. While those feelings are not inherently harmful, we are tasked with responding to our feelings with wisdom and prudence, knowing that how we respond to our emotions can be either harmful or helpful.
Submitted By:
Kelsey Vincent, Pastor for Youth and Families, First Baptist Church of Decatur