Faithfull Utterances: The Responsibility Belongs to Us

By Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew
Columnist

Right now, we are faced with a monumental decision. As voters, we are in the position of deciding the next President of the United States. None of the candidates are perfect and yet, we must decide what we are willing to tolerate knowing that the impact can have implications in so many ways. Having a successful life involves making the right decisions as well. I tell my college-aged daughter that every person you see is the sum total of their decisions. We make decisions every single day in every aspect of our lives.

I often advise young women when they are dating to immediately decide their non-negotiables in a mate. There are things that may be bothersome or irritating. There are other behaviors that are unacceptable and harmful. Those are personal decisions that each of us must make at some point in our lives. What often happens is that because we do not like some things about an individual, we completely dismiss them. Even worse, some of us leave the decision up to others.

In our unwillingness to decide, we have completely given our power away to someone else. We cannot afford to do this with such a monumental decision as the next President of the United States. So often, we allow the decisions of others to push us into actions that are not in our best interests. Some people in this election season will not vote because they do not like their options and in doing so, they are allowing others to make a decision that will impact them for years to come.

The same thing happens in our personal and professional lives. We allow bad decisions of others to push us into actions that do not support our dreams and future. For many, we give up and shut down. Others expect those around them to do the work while they benefit. In either scenario, we give up our power. This even happens in our walk with God. We allow others to pray for us because we are too busy to seek God. We do not pour into ourselves content that will help grow our faith hoping that we can receive a passing word from someone else that can help us. We often find other things to take the place of our relationship with God and we get so sidetracked with the idols that we have made our gods. Or, we wait until things get completely out of control to recognize our need for God.

In Exodus 32, Moses leaves to talk with God. “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” (Exodus 32:1 NIV) We all know this story does not end well. Instead of using the time to seek God and praise Him, they decided to make a decision that was not in their best interest. They allowed something that had little value to interfere with the priceless—their relationship with God. They also depended upon Moses instead of recognizing their own responsibility and power.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’” (Exodus 32:7-8)

In this moment, you cannot afford to depend upon others for decisions that will impact your trajectory. You are ultimately responsible for your actions. Remove all the obstacles that keep you from fulfilling your purpose and the plan God has for your life. In doing so, you will not suffer consequences for generations like the Israelites. And by the way, don’t forget to vote.

Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew is the author of three books for women. Her upcoming Podcast, The Tapestry, airs on Society Bytes Radio on Mondays at 1 PM CST. To listen, visit drfroswa.com/TapestryPodcast/. To connect to or learn more about Dr. Froswa’, visit drfroswa.com.