Important Decisions

These are legitimate questions that oftentimes do not provide clear cut answers. So how do we approach making important decisions like these and others?

I generally try to incorporate these three guiding principles when making significant decisions in my life; pray, weigh the pros and cons, and seek godly counsel.

Prayer signifies my dependence on the spirit of God and my desire to have the steady current of my faith fueling the decision making process. The leading voice and the highest priority of my life should be God’s Word. 

Weighing the pros and cons is an attempt to assure that my decisions aren’t based solely on my heart and emotions. If I know me, my emotions can become misguided and blur my vision in a way that I chase people, places, and dreams that God never intended for me to pursue.

Seeking godly counsel is simply asking for others to confirm or deny what they see as my passions and pitfalls, and how making this decision could be a wise or harmful move for me to make. I know that I need accountability in my life so that I’m not constantly choosing my own path based on preferences, conveniences, or self-gratifying results.

While many of the decisions we make aren’t necessarily cut and dry, black and white decisions we must learn to seek the wisdom and discernment necessary to consider the implications of those decisions. Insightful decision making will create an awareness for us to respond more appropriately when life doesn’t happen as we had planned.

Let your decisions be made with God’s Word, a steady mind, and the voice of trusted friends. Making decisions isn’t about following your heart; it’s about following God’s heart for your life. With every decision made, live like it’s the right decision made at the right time for the right reason. God will honor our attempts at humble, righteous decision making with loads and loads of grace.