Making the right decision

Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

How do you know when you’re making the right decision?  This is not a huge concern when figuring out what to have for breakfast or which outfit to wear for work or which friend you’ll go out with for drinks.  But the stakes are different when you’ve test driven a new car, the salesman has made you an offer, and you’re wondering if you should sign the purchase agreement.  The stakes are bigger when your sweetie proposes marriage and you are staring into a pair of hopeful eyes, wondering how you should answer.  When faced with a big decision that will impact your life for years to come, how can you be sure that you’re doing the right thing?

If you feel a sense of panic, the message is obvious—some part of you is not ready to take the plunge.  That kind of warning should be respected.  But most of the time, the signals are mixed—part of us is excited and wants to move forward, while another part wonders if anything important has been overlooked?  What makes big decisions scary is that once made, there is no going back.

At such times, prayer is critical.  We have a regrettable tendency to only pray in church or at the dinner table or when going to bed.  But God is listening wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.  The Bible says pray continually.  This is especially needful when you are wrestling with a big decision.  You don’t have to fold your hands and pray out loud.  But you can say, “I need a moment” and then silently ask God to help you make the right choice.

I’m not saying that God will always make things immediately clear to you.  He may want you to wait and ponder things further before committing to a course of action.  He may want you to get out of your head and really pay attention to what you are seeing and hearing—perhaps there are signals being sent that you aren’t picking up because your adrenaline is too high. 

Big decisions can be intimidating. But you have this security: if you end up going down the wrong path, Christ is willing to forgive you and will help you to see things through.  The key thing is to rely on your Lord at all times and in every situation.