Making Right Decisions

If we’re honest, we all have to admit that sometimes we get a little ahead of ourselves. God blesses us to achieve success in many areas of our lives, then we get a little too comfortable and self-assured. When it comes to important decisions, we might begin to think that we do not have to lean on the Father’s intervention and guidance as heavily as we once did. We should be extremely careful about this and not slip back into old habit patterns. Let’s call to mind the many sticky situations that God has delivered us from in the past. Let’s remember how relieved and comforted we were when He caused all things to work together for our good. This is important especially now. Life is becoming more complex, and more is at stake than ever before. Even those small decisions and choices can change the course of your life and send you spiraling down a very disappointing and troublesome path.

Amanda’s last two relationships ended in heartbreak, and she was bewildered by it. She wants to be married, and both times she prayed that things would work out, but this was after the fact. She jumped into those relationships heart first and didn’t wait for the green light from Heavenly Father. When things started to sour, that’s when she began to beg God to make things right. The reality is that we need to hear from God before we make important decisions. God wants to be included in every aspect of our lives, and we need to be praying and talking to Him often so that we can be confident we’re on the right path.

We are not as put together as we think. Most of us are a mess in some way or another. We need God. We need His guidance and leadership in our lives. He created us to be His children, and children need their fathers. John 4:24(NLT) tells us, “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” This verse conveys our responsibility to respond to God properly. God is a Spirit, and we are His spiritual children. He has no problem communicating with us, and it’s our responsibility to hear, listen, and respond to Him when He does.

Jason dreamed of being a successful entrepreneur, but things were not working out. He was stuck at a job he didn’t like, and not earning enough to support his dream. He felt that God wasn’t doing enough to help him be the success he thought he should be, so he decided to up and move to Atlanta. This wasn’t a good decision. The wisdom of God in Proverbs 3:5-7(NLT) teaches us, “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. 7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.” Even when things don’t appear to be going our way, we are obligated to still trust God. We must abandon our own understanding and make no moves until He tells us to.

Ponder your past
Sometimes we forget how costly our past mistakes were, especially the decisions we made when we were too impatient to wait upon the Lord. As believers, we have a purpose in God’s plan. We cannot afford to assume a definitive ‘yes’ from the Lord simply because we have not yet received a definitive ‘no’. Forcing the timing of our blessings will almost always cost us.

Trying to live in the past is a futile endeavor but looking at our past mistakes can sometimes offer a serious reality check. It’s true what they say; sometimes we need to remember where we’ve come from to help us get to where we’re going. Proverbs 4:26 (NKJV) tells us, “Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.” We should do this not just for the path we are about to take, but we must also ponder the ones we’ve taken in years gone by. We have to look at the outcomes that occurred when we did things without consulting our Heavenly Father.

Jesus Christ commands us in Matthew 6:33(NLT), “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” God has given us the capacity to learn from our mistakes, and to recognize that in the past we did not seek Him as attentively as we should have. We didn’t put Him first in all that we do. We can change that now, and we should.

Trust that God Will Guide You
If we will look back over the times when we’ve walked according to God’s Will, we’ll have a good basis to recognize that it is indeed His Word and His way that establishes us. It gives us a solid foundation that we can depend on, especially during the times we are unsure.

Psalm 25:12 tells us, “Who are those who fear the LORD? He will show them the path they should choose.” Talk about the Lord’s willingness to guide His people, you don’t get any better than this!!! The word ‘fear’ in this verse doesn’t mean that we are to be afraid of God. It means to honor and reverence Him. He promises to guide those that reverence Him and show them the right path. So, we can’t ever say at any point that we trusted Heavenly Father to guide us in our decisions, and He did not do so. When we are honoring Him the way that we should, He will steer us in the right direction every time.

Make sure you have the right motives
Things like selfishness, bitterness, pride, and arrogance can block our way. Sometimes when we go to God, we consider only the outcome we desire for ourselves without any compassion and thoughtfulness for others that may be affected by our decisions. I have prayed for blessings that I thought initially would benefit my entire family, but these were things that had been my lifelong dreams, and not theirs. I didn’t recognize that I was being selfish, but now I know better. I’ve made it a habit in my life to pray for God’s help to make the right decisions, and I do not proceed without hearing from Him.

Many believers develop a mindset of entitlement that is outside the boundaries of humility. We have a responsibility to clear our hearts of any such heavies prior to going before the Lord. Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 6:8(NLT), “For your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” God is an excellent and perfect Rewarder. He knows what we need and what is best for us. We need to have this level of faith to pursue any endeavor in life.

Be willing to yield your preferences for His
God has a plan for our lives. Ephesians 1:4(NLT) tells us “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” God handpicked us long before we were born. This doesn’t mean that our whole lives are prearranged. It means that God has already laid a path and made a plan for us that is based on His perfect Will. The decision to follow it is up to us.

Our plans don’t always align with God’s plan. When things don’t unfold the way we think, it’s a sign that we need to yield to God and trust His guidance. He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT), “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” God doesn’t make mistakes. He is an on-purpose God, and everything He does is purposeful. You and I should be extremely interested in knowing what God has planned for us, and we should be very committed to seeking Him and following where He leads.

Sometimes God speaks to us inwardly, through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Other times He speaks to us as we read and study His Word, or through other people, and even our circumstances. The important thing to know is that we don’t have to look to the left, nor to the right when it comes to making decisions that please God and benefit us. If we’ll be patient, offer up our own our preferences and opinions for His direction, and continue to be prayerful, He will always direct us to make the right decisions for our lives.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

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