Decisions, Decisions, Decisions – how to make them

I find decisions extremely frustrating sometimes. The decisions that are the hardest to make are those  that have some serious long-term implications. If I choose this career path, it closes that one pretty much forever. What if I don’t like it? If I get married now, what if someone else comes along? If I spend this money, what if I need it later? If I commit to this vacation, I won’t be able to go…

I had that kind of decision to make when we moved back to the Northwest. We loved Colorado. So, what if the church didn’t like me? I’m already at a church that does like me. Will I be shooting myself in the foot by moving? What if the rain really is too much? What if I wished I would have stayed put and settled in long-term there?

But I face those kinds of decisions over seemingly little things too. When we built a house once, I wondered, Should we set it off the straight property line so as to view the mountains better? I stressed over that one for days. We did put it off kilter and until the day we moved, I wished we would have done it even more….to see the mountains even better. But once the foundation was poured, there was no changing it.

A long time ago, I heard a song called Netherlands. In the middle of the song, it tells a story of someone standing at a fork in the road and not knowing which way to go. We all face that kind of dilemma from time to time. It’s hard when we stand there not knowing which way to go. But the song says this: “When I made my decision, my vision became my release.”

There are two possible interpretations to this:

1. I made a decision and never looked back or
2. I made a decision and a) found out I made the right decision, or b) found out I made the wrong one and was able to get off and go the other direction. Either way, we are still better off than simply standing there wondering which way to go.

It’s like my dad used to say, “Don’t just stand there, do something!”

But I find that sometimes people are stymied by trying to do the “right” thing. What does God want me to do? I don’t want to do the wrong thing.

Imagine this: You have a choice to make and three possible answers. You pray about it, you seek to listen, but you aren’t getting the clarity you hope for.  Three possible choices: one would be displeasing to God, the other two are pretty much a toss up as to which is best.  I think I hear God saying, “Don’t mess with the bad one, but choose either of the other two and I’ll bless that decision. If you are doing it for my glory, do it with all your might and I’ll bless it. You choose, it doesn’t matter to me.”

That’s how I chose to come back to the Northwest. I heard God saying, it probably doesn’t matter either way, because you are trying to bless me and my work with that decision. I’ll keep blessing you if you keep following. So, we chose and God has blessed.