I'll take option #3

Recently my family and I were watching the first National Treasure movie.  There's a part in there where Benjamin Gates has been arrested by the FBI and is talking with one of the agents who gives him two options, go to jail for a very long time (for stealing the Declaration of Independence) or help them catch the guy who has the Declaration now and then go to jail for a very long time.  Ben doesn't like either of those options so he asks for option three.  The agent, unamused tells him, there is no third option.  Well, later, while trying to get the Declaration back, Ben says, "I've found option three and I'm taking it."  He then jumps off the top deck of an aircraft carrier into the Hudson river - OUCH!  The two agents refuse to jump and Ben gets away.

Why the recap of Nation Treasure?  I want to live my life looking for option 3.  Here's what I mean, let me use Numbers 14 and Exodus 14 to explain.

When the Israelites leave Egypt God tells them to, "turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon" (Exodus 14:1). They were to do this because God had a plan that would, "gain glory for" Himself through Pharaoh. When the Israelites were right where God had told them to go they were caught between the sea and the Egyptian army who were coming after them. They cried out to God and asked, were there "no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?" It seems to me the only saw two options: stay in Egypt and be slaves or die in the desert.

Then in Numbers 14 the Israelites are once again exactly where God wanted them, a place called Kadesh, South of the promised land. Moses sent 12 spies to scope out the land God had promised to give them but ten of the spies said it couldn't be done - and the people believed them. They said, "Why didn't we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness?3 Why has God brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don't we just head back to Egypt? And right now!" Once again they see two options: Die in the desert or trying to take the promised land from it's inhabitants, or go back to being slaves in Egypt.

In both of these cases the Israelites only saw two options - but God saw another way... option three. I think we often get so caught up looking at the realities of our lives that we fail to realize God is not limited by our reality. In fact, Romans 14:17 says that God, "gives life to the dead and calls things that are NOT as though they WERE" (emphasis mine). In both of these cases, Exodus 14 and Numbers 14, God wanted to do something else that the people couldn't see - and option they didn't catch. God wanted to display His power to accomplish the impossible among them. In Exodus He parted the sea so they could get to safety and then drowned the entire Egyptian army in that same sea. And in Numbers He was going to supernaturally drive out the inhabitants of the land so that His chosen people could poses it. But they didn't see it.

I think that I will live the rest of my life looking for option 3. Perhaps I'll call it the God Factor. Whenever I get in a position that I think is hopeless or where my sight it limited to only the realities I can see - I'll chose option 3 and believe that it's in that precise moment that God wants to know if I'll chose Him and His ways over what I "think" will happen. Instead of choosing the lesser or two stinky options, I'll pick option 3. I'll go with the God Factor and trust that He wants to do something through me that is beyond me and above me but completely within the realm of possibility with God.

Are you in one of these situations where all you can see are bad options? Either you do this one stinky thing or that other stinky thing. Are you stuck between a rock and a hard place or maybe between Egypt and the Sea? Well, why not determine to chose option 3. I mean, if you're gonna die anyway what have you got to lose? I'll tell you what you could lose. You could lose the reconciliation of your marriage. You could lose the career that you were perfectly suited for in Christ. You could lost your child for good. You could lose being a part of some incredible move of God. Simply because you refused to believe that He could and that He would act on your behalf. You refused to see the God Factor in your situation. You refused to take option 3.

As for me, I'm gonna be an option 3 man of faith.