From A Cry To A Plan

At some point, the Wilderness Cry needs to turn into actionable wisdom. We cannot remain paralysed with frustration, grief, or loneliness. We need to bring all that pain to the cross, to the Holy Spirit of Wisdom, and the Eternal Guidance of Scripture. As we do, we begin to get glimpses of a future where these prayerful wilderness longings start to be answered by heaven.

In my own journey, as I have brought my frustrations and longings before God, He has taken me through three clear processes that have helped me be opened enough for the new reset. There were three clear pieces of mental baggage I had to tidy up in order to find clarity for the future.

First I had to Admit My Sunk Cost Bias.

The Decision Lab states that Sunk Cost Bias is “our tendency to follow through with something that we’ve already invested heavily in (be it time, money, effort, or emotional energy)” simply because our former investment blurs our vision to the alternatives. We feel we have to continue with a course of action because we’ve already poured so much into it. So, we become biased and don’t consider alternatives.

We can’t imagine stopping a fruitless project because we’ve spent so much time raising and training staff. We can’t change a failing church project because we’ve over-articulated how much it was “of God.” We hesitate to close an expensive department because those who run it love doing it, even though it isn’t fulfilling its original purpose. We can’t stop meeting in a certain place because we’ve spent so much money on the building there. And we build a life around former investments, premises, staff numbers, and favoured methods without bravely considering the alternatives.

Sunk Cost Bias stops us from hearing God fully, unflinchingly, and prophetically.

Sometimes God has to use disaster to clear the decks so we truly hear Him! He might even use a pandemic lockdown, where everything screeches to a halt, making us consider new ways (Ahem!). Sometimes certain people need to leave us, as we are only planning with them in mind, while God has something new for us!

Once I decided that old building plans, staff numbers, preferred geography, historic denominational allegiances, favourite methods, or comfortable models were not going to stop me from hearing the wild, expansive, true vision of heaven for our community, it got very interesting indeed!

Where are you stuck because of Sunk Cost Bias?

Tomorrow…we continue with our wilderness plan!

Today, I trade my ashes for His beauty, my despair for His praise, and my sorrow for His joy (Isaiah 61:3). My God redeems, restores, and renews all things—and He is making all things new in me.

God is turning every setback, and failure into something good. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

I declare that what the enemy meant for evil, God will use for His glory and my growth. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done” (Genesis 50:20).

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The Divine Reset & Beyond: EXPANDED EDITION
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The Divine Reset & Beyond is the fully updated and greatly expanded edition of The Divine Reset, where Jarrod Cooper continues to equip believers, churches, and leadership teams to flex, grow, and adapt to the seismic shifts and innovations reshaping our world since 2020.

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