Did you know the average person makes around 35,000 decisions per day? That’s a whole lot of decisions, if you ask me. Each one of us is faced with making choices with every breath we take; from the food we eat, the people we spend our time with, to even what we think about. You know – “the basics”.
But can you think of a time in your life when you were faced with having to make a big decision? The kind of decision that kept you up at night. If not, I’m glad you’re here, because life doesn’t exempt anyone from eventually having to make really tough choices. Before you find yourself asking, “What do I do?”, ask yourself this, “Who or what am I allowing to influence how I make decisions?” Specifically, the really hard ones.
We humans are easily influenced. We allow advertisements, social media, people we admire, complete strangers, news outlets, and even our feelings to persuade us with our decision-making on a regular basis, which isn’t necessarily always a bad thing. But when we’re faced with a situation that includes big decisions that could change the course of our life – ones involving an unplanned pregnancy, career change, a relationship crisis, or racial and pandemic tension, for example – It’s so very important we don’t make any quick decisions based solely on feelings. When faced with a difficult situation, we can often feel like the options before us are in fact the only options. But what if we took a step back and asked the Lord for His angle? Remember this when you feel like your options are limited and have hope!
Start With a Right Heart
This is not an easy thing to do. 9/10ths of the difficulty in making a tough decision is overcoming our own strong will. You’ll find that making hard decisions get a little bit easier when you return and realign your heart to God. If you’ve never done that before, here is a simple prayer you can say in the midst of a hard situation:
“Teach me how to align my heart with Yours. I recommit myself as a man/woman after Your heart. I choose to seek Your face (Psalm 27:8). In difficult times, open my heart to receive Your revelation. Hide me in the shelter of your tabernacle (Psalm 27:5). Reveal deeply to my heart Your love for me. Rescue me in the midst of difficult circumstances and bring me into a spacious place (Psalm 18:19). Teach me to enjoy life the way you desire. I choose to be confident in Your love. I love you, O Lord, my strength” (Psalm 18:1).”
God is good to keep His promises, including the promise to forgive. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). Jesus gave us a far better option, for he works in us from the inside-out. Faith in Jesus Christ means that he takes up residence in our lives, for we have died, and we are new creations. He first changes our hearts, our behavior will follow.
Ask Jesus
Maybe you are the way I used to be, and you’re afraid of making a decision about something because you don’t want to have any regrets. Maybe you’ve made so many bad decisions that you just want to make a right one for a change. Or maybe you make decisions based off what will please others.
This is where we have the tremendous privilege of asking Jesus what we should do. When we say “Lord, have your way with this situation in my life, let your will be done” there will be success in your situation. God gets no glory from you failing. Spend time with God through prayer and allow Him to show you that you can indeed trust what he is doing and where he is taking you even when you don’t understand.
Though God does no guarantee that our answer will be a swift one, we should focus on placing our full hope and desires in Him and trust that he will show up on our behalf. Keep on praying and seeking and reading the Bible and looking for God’s answer without letting your own will get in the way. An easy way to discern if it is indeed our will or God’s, ask yourself this, “Is what I’m feeling or thinking God is telling me going against the Word of God?” If so, then you can be certain that it is not God’s will. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)
Know Jesus
Jesus tells us to cast our cares on Him. Seeking Him to guide us through specific situations is an essential part of our walk with Him—but it starts by getting to know Him as our Lord, Savior and friend. The most important decision we could ever make is to ask Jesus into our heart and choose to have a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. As we grow with Him, we will learn to hear his voice, the warm, compassionate voice that drowns out all others.
Answer to Jesus and Only to Jesus
It’s incredibly easy to feel like you are alone when you have to make a choice that could really impact your life. Any difficult situation is an opportunity to utilize your resources and reach out to trusted family members, friends, pastors, and mentors around you.
Remember, you aren’t alone. Believe it or not; there are people who have gone through similar experiences have overcame them. These are people who can offer wisdom and shed light on your unique situation who you trust have your best interest at heart. God created us for community so that we could love and help fill in the gaps for one another.
Reaching out and asking people for advice doesn’t mean you ultimately need to do what they advise. Remember that your decisions are ultimately between yourself and Jesus. Having prepared your heart with love, and prayed for the correct response, you make a God-honoring decision. Will everyone agree with your decision? Probably not. Will it make everything easy? Definitely not. But will it all be worth it in the end? Totally. “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed,” Proverbs 16:3.
Our team at Cornerstone is here to offer decision-making counsel as well as digital and virtual resources on healthy relationships and spiritual enrichment. If our resources are something you could benefit from in the midst of your situation, please reach out by either calling 717-442-3111 or visiting our website to and talk to a live advocate via digital chat. We’re here for you!