Proactive versus Reactive
I believe that we have so many things in our lives that are supposed to help us to be content and satisfied in our pilgrimage on this earth. We are ambassadors of God and God is trying to help us to change the way we think. There has to be a spiritual transformation within every believer’s life. People say that they want to change the world but most people don't even want to change themselves.
As a child of God you need to be proactive and not reactive. Reaction means being under the control of everything around you. It means receiving; being the person who is always affected. God wants us to be proactive. He wants us to understand that we are free. He has set us free to make good decisions and I believe that most of society today is reactive. They are dealing with everything around them. They are dealing with the circumstances and the pressures that are around them and that is when we make a big mistake. We are reactive and we try to solidify our situation. God wants you to be able to think things through and become proactive.
Proactive means this – to be in control. Proactive also means sharing the answers – getting the answers and sharing them. It means also that you are a person who is able to go to the Bible, to God or to a friend and get an answer to be able to move forward. You get a strategy inside of you that will change the outcome. You don't succumb to the problem but you deal with the problem head on. You don't run from the problem. The problem will not just go away. You don't make a decision to just live with the problem. You have got to believe that you are able to solve the problem and you commit yourself to doing whatever it takes.
Reactive people in the mist of their problems just stop dead; they don’t move an inch. They think life is over for them and that they will never be successful again. It is over if they continue to think that way. But for those who are proactive, even though they reach a certain place in life, they tell themselves that it is not over, that there are other ladders to climb, other places to go and they deal with the difficulties and they move on to the higher place that God has for them and that is called faith - faith in God. When the hurdles are there and the difficult times are there, you have got to deal with them, overcome them and they will push you to a higher position because you have the nature of Christ inside of you to be able to become everything that God wants you to be.
Proactive or reactive? The choice is up to you.
Dr. Lawrence Kennedy
Senior Pastor
North Church