Decision making #1
How do you go about making crucial decisions? What process do you use? Where (if anywhere) do you put God in the equation?
Does God automatically put a rubber stamp on our decisions?
Is He ambivalent about how we use our time and money? (as long as there’s no sin involved, he has no opinion?)
Does He give direct counsel on specific issues or does He only deal in generalities?
R. Barton puts really well, “Is there a trustworthy process for actively seeking God relative to decisions we are making?” (Strengthening the Soul of Leadership, 194).
I don’t pretend to have all the answers to questions like these. On the one hand, I don’t think that God has a hidden set of Robert’s Rules of Order that He’s hoping that we will discover. There is no hidden-here’s-how-to-make-every-decision-in-life formula. But at the same time, I think God’s love for us compels Him to care and have concern about the matters that concern us. I even think that God is saddened when we make too much of some matters that are highly trivial.
So where should we begin as we seek to make godly decisions? Here are two pieces of sound advice (for more I might suggest reading chapter 12 of R. Barton’s Strengthening the Soul of Leadership).
1. Ask yourself, “Who are my counselors?” – Have I talked with any godly people as I have sought to determine what is best? Am I in this all alone?
2. Ask yourself, “Am I really indifferent about this important decision?” Jesus tells us that to follow Him we must die to ourselves. Have I really done that in this decision? Do I stand to gain a lot from this decision? Am I attached to the outcome of this decision? Can I be honest about how I feel about this decision and my agenda? What is really driving me as I consider this situation?
