Decisions, decisions

God, have mercy on me, a sinner (Luke 18:13).

How much freedom of choice do you really have in life? You don’t get to choose your parents. You can’t alter your genetic structure. You can’t change the economy or put an end to war. You can’t escape aging or death.

Of course, there are many points in life where you do get to make a choice—but even then, your options are limited. When deciding what to wear, you are limited to the choices in your closet. If you choose to behave badly, you can end up in the Principal’s office or a jail cell; you can lose your job or your marriage.

And yet, although our choices are limited, there are still times when we feel overwhelmed. There are several options open to us, and we don’t know which way to go. We can be paralyzed with fear, unwilling to make a choice that might turn out badly and cannot be taken back. Sometimes we hesitate too long, and events make the decision for us.

You are right to be concerned about making a bad decision. Left to our own judgment, we usually take the wrong path. This is because we’re all sinners. Our minds are clouded by fear, anger, and desire. Our cravings scream so loudly for satisfaction that it is hard to think things through logically. Our fears urge us to take quick and drastic action, regardless of the consequences. When it comes to making decisions, we only have limited options, yet even then we are prone to making bad choices.

This is why we need Jesus in our lives. We need Him to put limits on the choices available to us, so we don’t make a lot of catastrophic decisions. We need Him to guide us in making good use of the decision points in our lives. We need Him to forgive us when we do the wrong thing, hurting ourselves or hurting others in the process. We need Him to fix the damage that we’ve caused, which no words of apology can ever set right.

God gives us freedom to make choices, but within certain limits. He gives us brains to use and He gives us guidelines to follow. Use your mind to honor God with your choices, trusting that Jesus will forgive you when a decision turns out badly.