35,000 decisions a day: Make one spending time with God.

It may be hard to believe, but research has found that the average adult makes more than 35,000 decisions per day! Some of these decisions are small, like what we're going to eat for breakfast, what we're going to wear for the day, or how we're going to respond to a text message. Some are bigger, like who we're going to marry, what career path we're going to take, or what city we're going to raise our families in. But ultimately, our lives are based on a bunch of decisions. The most important decision we will ever make, though, is choosing to trust God with our lives!

Most of us want to trust God's plan for our lives. We want to believe that God will use us in His great plan for humanity. We want Him to speak into our hearts. We want to live lives of purpose and meaning. But in order to experience all of the love God has to offer us, we have to make the decision to meet Him in the middle and spend time cultivating a relationship with Him every day! That's how we get to know Him. And that's how we learn how to make Him known through our lives.

Think about it: Without spending time with God, it can be very difficult to make sense of all of our daily decisions, to know where He is leading us, and to trust His plan along the way. When I think about the importance of daily decisions, I think about when I played football at the University of Florida. Before every home game, the team and I would climb into the buses parked in front of our hotel, ride right by the stadium, and stop at the Gator Walk on University Avenue. Thousands of Gator fans formed a tunnel that led to a brick sidewalk into the north end of the stadium. I was the first to get off the bus and enter the screaming crowd of fans. And each time, I had to make the decision as to whose voice I was going to listen to. One was the voice in my head of pride. Timmy, they're here for you! This is pretty cool. One was the voice in my head of judgment: Timmy, if these people saw you on your worst days, they probably wouldn't like you. One was the voice in my head of discouragement: You're not enough. You can't handle the pressure. You don't deserve to be here. But another was the “Voice of Truth,” one of my favorite songs by Casting Crowns, that I chose to blare through my headphones every time I walked into that crowd. This was the voice of God, who said: Timmy, I have a plan and purpose for your life.

You see, in those moments, I always had a decision to make. I could've listened to the voice of pride and let my ego get the best of me. I could have listened to the voice of judgment and felt like an imposter in a sea of fans. I could have listened to the voice of discouragement and felt like I wasn't good enough to be there. But I tried my best to make the decision every time to listen to the voice of truth, to God's voice. And by making that decision, I felt Him carry me through all the highs and lows during my time as a Florida football player.

The decisions we make every day – big and small – matter. They shape us into who we become and what we believe about ourselves and others. We won't always make the right ones (I sure haven’t!), but of the 35,000 decisions we make every day, one of those decisions can and should be spending time with God! My hope and prayer is that the Mission Possible One-Year Devotional will help you make the decision every day to spend intentional time with God, to feel inspired, to deepen your faith, and then to feel ready to step out into the world with a Mission Possible mindset. Click here to pre-order your copy today.