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Decision Making

How do you, as a Christian, come to major decisions, which touch not only your future but also the lives of others?

A helpful approach can be represented by 4 “C’s” to be sought before making a decision:

* Call or command of Scripture as you meditate on God’s Word (2 Tim.3:16, Ps.119:105).

* Counsel of pastor and other elders in the church family (1 Cor. 12:25-26, 1 Pet. 5:2-5).

* Circumstances of your daily life which God brings about (Gen. 50:20, Rom. 8:28).

* Conviction of conscience, with convincing of clear reasoning (Rom.12:1-2).

These four guides should go together, and should agree. We need to pray for wisdom and discernment. Our circumstances may seem to push us to one decision or to another. Yet, how we come to a conclusion may be more according to what we wish or desire than according to what God is showing us in our daily lives. Our perceptions and our feelings can be great liars. Also, the circumstances we choose to see, or the desires we want to fulfill, may be easily manipulated by spirits of deception (1 John 4:1).
The same can be said about a heart conviction which we may assume comes from our conscience, or even from God. Our sinful nature can very subtly twist our thinking to convince us into doing what we feel is “surely right”. Many decisions have been based on “right” feelings, on “right” circumstances, on “right” convictions, on “righteous” words of prophecy or knowledge, even on “signs and wonders” which were “surely right”. But they turned out to be wrong or misleading.

When Nemi and I were invited by the mission to serve overseas in 1989, we struggled greatly to reach a decision. My feelings said, “No!” Nemi’s heart said, “Yes!” Then we experienced some puzzling “signs”, and we received a rather amusing “word of prophecy” from a good friend. Our circumstances were pushing us to make a change in our pastoral ministry -- but not to leave our home and fly to another country!
We engaged in an extended time of prayer, diligently sought God’s Word from Scripture during several weeks, and also sought the counsel of an elder who had mentored me over the years. Only then were we able to know the Lord’s leading with great assurance, and able say, “Yes,” with complete confidence. A Scripture passage spoke to us in a very direct, positive and personal way. And our mentor strongly confirmed the call for us to go overseas. Then, immediately after we accepted, the Lord gave us added confirmation.
(It should be noted that, as a married couple, neither of us would have said, “Yes,” if either of us had decided not to accept the call of missions. In the same way, as active members of a church, we maintained an attitude of respect for the counsel and the authority of the mission leaders who had invited us to serve overseas.)

The four “C’s” of decision making are not, and should not be taken, as a “formula”. They are simply helpful guides, which Scripture confirms. The need to pray for wisdom cannot be too strongly emphasized.
Decision making is seldom easy (Rom. 8:26). Yet how many of us do not even take these minimal steps because we are too lazy to persist in prayer, or too proud to earnestly seek and trust God’s Word? How often we would rather trust circumstances which seem so evidently from God, or counsel from a “prayer warrior” with a special “word” seemingly from God, or “common sense” -- which, of course, each of us assumes we have! Sadly, many lives have been misled by a “word of prophecy” or “knowledge” which seemed so deliciously right. However, at the point of decision, what counts most is knowing Christ in intimate and daily personal relationship.

Therefore, the following truths from Scripture can give us great confidence and peace in decision making:

First, our Redeemer God loves us, and does not play “hide and seek” with us (Rom. 1:19). He wants us to know Him personally in a daily “quiet time”, when we can listen to Him as we read His Word, the Bible, and then as He listens as we talk to Him. Second, our Father God grants us – his sons and daughters -- the responsibility and freedom to make decisions with him (Rom. 12:2). Third, incomprehensible to the human mind, our Sovereign God is in complete control, and brings about all that comes to pass (Rom. 8:28). Fourth, our Creator God has one purpose in all and above all: To bring all of us and all His creation “to the praise of His glorious grace” (Eph. 1:6).