Making Significant Decisions
Dr. Eric Klinger of the University of Minnesota conducted a survey several years ago, in which he determined that we all face between 3,000 and 17,000 decisions a day.
They hit us as soon as the alarm clock jars us awake. Decision #1: We have to decide whether we’re going to get up or punch the snooze alarm.
Having made that decision, others come quickly: What will I wear? Will I eat breakfast or not? Which route will I take to work? Where will I go for lunch? Who will I have lunch with? What will we have for supper? (Ever notice how many decisions are about food?)
Will I watch television that evening? If so, what show? Finally, we have to decide when we’re going to go to bed and whether we’re going to have milk and cookies before we do. Dawn to dusk, decisions dog our day.
Now, most of us handle these hundreds of routine decisions with relative ease. But life often presents us with high-level choices that carry big-time implications, even altering the trajectory of our future.
As followers of Christ, we long to make choices that reflect God’s will, not just our preferences. Often, we turn to the green lights of circumstance and Scripture as a sign that God is leading.
That is, does this “open door” square with God’s Word? Or, put another way, would stepping through it violate God’s Word?
But what happens when both options seem to align with those green lights? How do we discern what the Lord is truly inviting us into?
Pastor and author Peter Scazzero offers an encouraging word as we look toward this. He reminds us that “God is more committed to leading you than you are to being led.”
He then suggests five questions to prayerfully ask when making a significant decision. So take a breath. Quiet your spirit. Open your heart. And invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you as you ask the following.
1. How open am I to God’s will, truly?
It’s one thing to say, “Lord, lead me,” with a sense of total abandonment to that leading. It’s another thing to say, “Lord, lead me” with the mindset that says, “As long as it’s easy or safe or preferable.
This question requires deep honesty. Do I want God's will – even if it challenges me or even costs me something? This is the sort of openness that pleases the Lord and allows Him to truly lead.
2. What do I sense God saying through my emotions?
We have been created as emotional people. And God often speaks through our emotions. These feelings are not infallible, but they are worth paying attention to.
What do you feel as you picture each option? Are you noticing peace, joy, contentment, and satisfaction? Or do you feel anxious, disquieted, and heavy?
Take some time to feel your feelings. What do those emotions say about where God might be leading?
3. What wisdom am I receiving from others?
Proverbs 11:14 states, "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety."
God often speaks through the people He’s placed in our lives. Think of your spiritual mentors, trusted friends, or family members who not only walk closely with Jesus but who know you well.
Have you asked for their insight regarding your options? What points of encouragement or caution do they see?
4. What do I learn by imagining a “trial run”?
Imagine living for two weeks with each of your options. Walk through your daily life with each of them as it relates to your relationships, responsibilities, rhythms of rest and work. What rises in you as you dwell in each imagined future? Joy? Dread? Peace? Anxiety? Consider journaling or praying through what you notice during each “trial run.”
5. What does God’s design of me say?
Each of us is a unique masterpiece shaped by the Creator. As such we have a God-given wiring that includes our gifts, temperament, burdens, and passions. Which option aligns more closely with how God has designed you?
As well, ask yourself some hard questions regarding whether you are choosing based on your calling, or on personal prestige, people-pleasing, or peer pressure?
If you're wrestling with a hard decision, be encouraged. The fact that you really do desire to seek God’s will in this process is something that He is pleased by and able to work with.
You may not have a crystal-clear answer right away, but we serve a God who is ready, willing, and able to direct you in His way and at His time. Proverbs 3:5-6 offers a promise you can hold tight to.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
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