To be or not to be?

To Be or Not to Be?......That is the question? - William Shakespeare.   

A famous quote line from a famous well know author of poetry.  Well I got another one.

For God is not the author of confusion but of peace as in all churches of the saints.(1 Cor 14:33)

This famous scripture comes from Paul, the author of 13 epistles in the New Testament.  These two statements directly contradict each other.  In one the confusion is something to ponder on which direction to go.  On the other the confusion is something to not even participate in.

I ended up having to make a very tough decision that frankly I didn't want to make.  Im still having trouble with it and as I prayed on it, the only thing that kept coming back to mind is "For God is not the author of confusion".  Is this a cop out for the believer?  An excuse to not ponder on the confusion just as the "Great" William Shakespeare has suggested?

I opened my bible, as I do with most issues I come up against, and read chapter 14 of first Corinthians.  Then I decided to go back one chapter, as per the instructions of my Pastor whenever we study, and I come across one of my favorite scriptures from a long time ago that I had forgotten.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things. (1 Cor 13:11)

This verse has never made more sense to me until just now.  For 34 years I thought as a child; even as a full grown adult (not man) I still acted and thought as a child.  I did not use wisdom to solve lifes problems, because true wisdom comes from Christ and I did not have Christ as my center before.  I thought as a child and made my decisions based on emotions and what I feel and not what the spirit is telling me or what the word of God is telling me.

The thing is, knowing the right course of action doesn't make the confusion or decision to follow the right path any less painful.  I still don't like the choice made and I am hoping the Spirit will reveal to me just what he is trying to tell me.  I am not in the business of hurting no one and I am hoping that every instance the Lord takes me through, I get just a little wiser than before.

To avoid confusion is to trust and follow the Lord from jump.  To blindly walk into a situation is not of God for just as it states in 1 Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done with decency and in order.  Order is the direct opposite of chaos.  Clarity is the direct opposite of confusion.  Another scripture that explains this clearly

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and LEAN NOT unto thine own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight Prov 3:5-6

So if his word is saying is several spots (these are just a few) that God does not reside in confusion nor operate in it; then I have to believe that his purpose and decision for me will become clear.  If it is not clear than it must not be of God.  Another one of my favorite scriptures is...

For the steps of a man are established in the Lord, when he delights in his way Psalms 37:23

So if my steps are directed from the Lord and the Lord does not operate in confusion, then it must not be his way that is affecting my indecisiveness.  Doesn't mean that I don't trust the Lord but like it says in Job 13:15 Tho he slay me; yet will I trust him...

I may not totally understand why it has happened, but that doesn't mean that he caused the confusion in the first place.  Satan knows your desires as well.  He has had ample enough time to get to know you and your habits and shortcomings.  God does not have to "get to know you" he created you and therefore knows all about you.  But Satan can and will use what he has learned with his limited power to trip you up.  Paul was speaking to the church in 1 Corinthians and since the church is the bride of Christ and not a building that means I am the church.  I am apart of this church and therefore what Paul says, inspired by the Holy Spirit, applies to me personally.

To be or not to be?......I'd just rather not at all