We all face decisions every day. Some are a lot easier than others, but how do you make a decision with God? He knows everything about everything. So he is the right person to bring into the conversation. But how do you do that? When we make decisions on our own, we can get it right now and then, but we are all susceptible to making decisions in a rush. When we’re emotional, or even when we’re hungry. Those decisions don’t always have a great result and they may not be in line with God’s will. We’ll be covering three ways to make sure that you’re including God in your decisions. And what do you do if you haven’t heard from him yet?
Here are three ways to make sure that you are including God in your decisions:
Pray and listen. Ask for wisdom, ask for clear directions. Asked for key doors to be opened or closed. Start the dialogue about your situation and then be still and listen. Find a quiet moment. Write a journal injury. Read some scripture and meditate on the words. Be open to what the holy spirit has for you. It may be another option confirmation of what you were leaning toward or confirmation of a not now or no.
Psalm 46:10- Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
Second. Seek godly counsel. Which of your friends can you trust to listen and objectively weigh in on your decision? Reach out, have a conversation, a real conversation not a text message chat. You need to hear the tone and emotion in the conversation to fully understand what they’re going to tell you. If you feel like the topic is beyond your close circle of friends, knowledge base, or maybe their wheelhouse. You can use your church community to help find someone to talk to. Maybe it’s just someone older than you.
Maybe it’s someone who has direct experience with your situation. Your life group members, your pastor worship leader, deacon, or the most senior church lady that always sits in the same seat each week. May know, someone that can help. Find another Christian that you can talk to about your decision and someone who can pray for you.
Proverbs 1:5 – Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.
The third thing you can do. Check your motivation and thoughts. Many times the need to make a decision can be urgent or it came about unexpectedly and it can be stressful. As you’re evaluating your options, you’re pros, your cons, et cetera, and talking to God, be sure to talk to him about your feelings. Ask him to reveal any impure or skewed motivations or thoughts that could impact your decision. Emotions or the Bible refers to him as your heart can be deceiving. Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Be aware of fear or confusion, neither of those come from God and both are used by the enemy. 1 Corinthians 14:33 – For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. When stress and emotions are at increased levels, it isn’t wise to make important decisions at that time.
What may seem like the right decision in the moment. May not be right once you’ve settled down. This includes decisions on how to react to situations. Giving someone a piece of your mind may provide an emotional release, but it can also damage that relationship.
If your emotions are high, you may need to pause, pray or just let some time pass until you calm down. Talking to someone can also help with processing emotions. Jesus is the giver of peace that is beyond understanding. Ask him for help navigating an emotional situation. So what if you did all those things and you’re ready to make a decision but you don’t feel like you’ve heard from God? What do you do if a decision is required, maybe there’s a deadline and you’re still needing clarity?
Let’s check. Did you do the work? God gave us the ability to do research. Determine the pros, the cons, price out the costs. Talk to people at a company or in a line of work, learn about the side effects, learn about the consequences and benefits and whatever else you need to learn. Make sure you have the facts and details to help you make a decision.
Did you apply biblical principles? Look at the principles that the Bible teaches us. There are principles about handling money, how we treat people, how we’re supposed to work, interactions with people in charge, being honest and so much more. What a great opportunity to start reading the Bible in order to research what it says about a decision that you need to make. It could be as simple as searching a topic in the Bible app or looking up a subject in the index and the back of your Bible. If your decision topic is more modern. Like you won’t find words in the Bible about social media IVF or things like that. You can always ask your pastor or another trusted, godly person in your church community, for some biblical stories or principles that you can study and learn from and apply to your situation.
Are you trusting God? If you’ve done the research on the situation, you have all the facts, you’ve prayed, you’ve sought out wise counsel, you’ve checked your motivation and you’ve checked on biblical principles… You can be confident you’ve done everything you can do and you can rely on God for everything else. Also consider whether this is a situation that without a definitive yes… is it a no, or not right now.
Trust God will be with you as things unfold and move forward. We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Whether it’s a decision about a new job, a purchase, an action, a trip or reaction, a phone call, or text your health. Whatever it is. If God is with you, it’ll be okay. Once a decision is made. It may be an instance slam dunk. Or it may not initially go well, either way.
God is big enough, powerful enough to work it out. He can teach you something in the middle. He can use it as a stepping stone to something better later. He can bless you and he can ultimately give you peace about the decision.
Proverbs 3:5- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean, not on your own understanding.
It may be time to make a decision.
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