Decisions, decisions, decisions.
At what age did my decisions start to truly matter? Maybe they always mattered, I just had the buffer of my parents’ ultimate authority over my choices. Now, I feel surrounded by decisions that drastically impact my future, and they are fully mine to make.
With college around the corner, I have to choose where to go, what to study, where to live, etc. So, when our host, Ma Willie, introduced a bible study focused on godly decision making, I was desperate and excited to learn.
I thought I generally had an accurate picture of what godly decision making looked like. Understand before reading this, that my blog is not the end all be all, this is me simply sharing what I have learned. Read, think, and search the word for yourself and see what you find.
When making a life choice, I have asked God to show me “His will”, expecting Him to reveal which option to choose.
Here are two approaches I have used to make a decision in the past:
•inner peace
“Wow, God has given me peace about this or that decision, that must mean it’s the option that God wants me to choose.”
•open doors
“God has just opened so many doors to show me that He wants me to do this or that, because it all just worked out so easily.”
These things are a few of the many ways I’ve tried to “find” God’s will, and justify my actions. And truthfully, they may lead me to make smart decisions, but these tactics are not accurate gauges of the Lord’s will.
Inner peace can be a personal choice. Someone can have peace about sin, because it makes them feel content, but sin does not reflect the Lords character, let alone His will for someone’s life. Relying on circumstances and open doors to reveal God’s will is also faulty. Basically, it’s saying, “I am going to do this or that because it’s easy.” Consider the twelve disciples. How often was their life easy? How often did they meet trials of many kinds? Nearly every day. Is that to say that God’s will would have been to walk an easier life? Should they have only walked out their faith whenever and wherever it was easiest? No.
We want to know Gods plan. We want to know. And sometimes it’s for the right reasons. We genuinely want to please the Lord by following His course for our lives. But more often than not, it goes beyond our surface level desire to obey the Lord. Deep down we want God to guarantee success for our lives. We want to know that God’s worked out the kinks beforehand so that we can approve of where we are going before we get there. If God shows you which choice to make, then hey, shouldn’t that mean it’s going to work out for the best?
The reality is, we don’t want to walk by faith, we want to walk by sight. We want God’s stamp of approval on every decision, so we don’t have to fear extreme failure. And then, who actually is responsible for my decisions, God or me? Isn’t interesting that the first sin in the garden rooted from the desire to “know” what God knows from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We want to trust God to make our decisions for us, so that when they don’t work out how we wanted or things aren’t what we hoped, it’s not our fault, but God’s.
Would I completely flip your world upside down if I told you that maybe God doesn’t want you to know His unrevealed will? The Bible is full of God’s revealed will. This includes His commands and teachings, broad intentions for humanity, and His plans for Christians as a whole. But through studying we see that God also leaves a lot unsaid.
I have much more to say, but most attention spans are not as long as my word count. Next time I get Wi-Fi, I will post a continuation on this topic and trust me, we’re getting to the good part. Thank you for reading about what the Lord is teaching me. I pray the Lord uses what I learn to speak to others, too. I love yall, hope you are surrounded by your loved ones, and praying for safe travels. Pro tip: take some time this week and read the birth of Christ from your own bible. Not just from the preacher and nativity plays. Read from the bible in your hand, about when your savior came to earth to save you. Realize why we’re celebrating. When I did, it was really beautiful, especially when its 105 degrees outside and doesn’t feel like Christmas at all. I was reminded how insane it is that a baby by the name of Jesus was born, who one day would save humanity by dying on a cross and it all started around this time, all those years ago : )
Merry Christmasfrom Botswana
