Decision Making, God's Way

“Research by George Barna shows that fewer than 10 percent of churchgoing Christians make important life decisions based on God’s Word and seeking his will! In other words, more than 90 percent decide on the basis of their own intelligence, peer opinion, whim or fancy. They marry people and move to new cities without so much as a ten-minute prayer. Yet every Sunday they sit in church pews singing songs like “Where he leads me, I will follow.” (Jim Cymbala, Fresh Faith, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1999)

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Prov. 14:12 NIV)

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5,6 NIV)

It was just plain common sense! It seemed like the right thing to do! I’m doing my best! All have been uttered by someone you know (maybe you) in the midst of trying to recover from a near catastrophe. What went wrong?
There are a number of Biblical principles that need to be engaged whenever we make decisions. Failure to do so may result in disaster, even when we mean well. One of those principles is . . . the principle of the deceitful heart. We trust that because our hearts seem pure that our decision will be pure. But our hearts are deceitful as the prophet Jeremiah reminds us. Bad motives creep in unaware. We move to a different job that promises us higher wages believing that we will be able to support the work of God with a stronger offering, only to upgrade our lifestyle to swallow up our gain. Or perhaps you did it to escape a “horrible boss” only to find out that she was “horrible” because you rarely showed up on time, or did sloppy work. When we trust our hearts, we set ourselves up for potential failure.
Another principle is . . . the principle of leaning on our own understanding. Most of us use a particular method of reasoning when we are in the process of making a decision. The Bible reminds us that we are to seek the wisdom of counselors before we make a decision. Our own understanding is much too subjective to be trusted.
Trusting in the Lord means taking the time to plan ahead prayerfully. Our planning includes; learning from other’s successes and failures, seeking Godly wisdom from mature believers, consulting the Scriptures in precept and principle, prayerfully seeking the Spirit’s wisdom and gathering facts objectively. It is God’s prescribed method to insure your safety. You won’t want to do it any other way.