The Next Right Thing

Chantelle Foster

Reading

Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, “Who do the people say I am?”
“Some say ‘John the Baptizer,’” they said. “Others say ‘Elijah.’ Still others say ‘one of the prophets.’”
He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”
Peter gave the answer: “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”
Mark 8:27-29 (The Message)

Reflection

In the mid-1990s, in my late twenties, I was given a bracelet commonly seen on Christian youth with the letters W.W.J.D. This bracelet was a reminder to ask yourself throughout your day, “What would Jesus do?” I’m pretty sure I received my first bracelet when Mark and I were with kids from our youth group at Canyon Camp. I was fond of that bracelet and thought it was very cool to have a bunch of kids and adults thinking about Jesus. The thing was, I would look at that bracelet on my wrist and think, “But I am not Jesus! So how am I supposed to pull this off?!”

Much later in my ministry, solidly in my forties, Mark began sharing key things he was learning from reading Dallas Willard’s books and studying under Dallas as his doctoral professor. Dallas thought a more helpful question to ask instead of W.W.J.D.? was W.W.J.H.M.D.?—What would Jesus have me do? Because while I am not Jesus, he still has things for me to do!

This was a critical shift for me and a question that made way more sense to answer. So, in my daily life, typically when I have a dilemma or a challenge, I ask myself an extended version of W.W.J.H.M.D., “What would Jesus have me do if he were me, living my life?” If I believe Jesus is the smartest man that ever lived, as Mark has said in his last two sermons, I can trust Jesus with all of my life. My big question for reflection is: Do I live like I believe this?

Placing my trust in Jesus each day helps me see that the world is a perfectly safe place to be living in God’s good kingdom. When I remind myself of this truth, I am not letting fear win.

Our action step for this week was saying to God:
“Take my life again right now. Do with me what you want. I trust you. Amen.”

It’s the “I trust you” that is the harder part of that step for me. I’m going to keep surrendering my heart to God, and my trust will follow. I am also going to focus on doing the next right thing. I’ll keep asking myself, “What would Jesus do if he were me, living my life?”

Prayer
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Lead us in your way. Show us the next right thing to do and give us the courage to do it. We give our hearts to you today. May our lives reflect your love. We trust you. Amen.