Recently I counseled with a new believer about crucial decisions he has to make. He recognizes that He could be making better decisions today if he had been following Christ through the years. We can’t turn back the clock, but we can begin today seeking God’s leadership.
What are the basics of making good decisions?
In this regard I highly recommend the Word of God given by Isaiah the prophet to the political leadership in Jerusalem (Isaiah 30:1-5). Isaiah’s ministry (742-700 BC) came in the midst of turmoil in Judah and Israel. During this time the northern kingdom (Israel) with its capital at Samaria fell to the Assyrians (722 BC). Judah and Jerusalem in the south faced several political crises.
Both kingdoms made bad decisions by seeking its on plans and giving lip service to God. They left God out of the process.
Isaiah called the political leadership “rebellious children,” and pronounced “woe” against them. “Woe” can be a way of pronouncing judgment or it can have the sense of “shame on you.” In this case, it probably means both.
Isaiah condemned the leaders for four ways they made decisions. (1) They carry out a plan but not God’s. (2) They make an alliance but against God’s will. (3) They go down to Egypt without seeking God’s advice. (4) They seek protection in Egypt’s shadow and act as if the Lord doesn’t exist.
Does this sound like you? Are you seeking God for decisions or do you make your own decisions and ask God to bless it? Are you simply giving lip service to God?
Tomorrow’s post will ask several basic questions about seeking the guidance of God.
Isaiah 30 shows that God gives guidance, and He expects us to seek His guidance. He wants to lead and bless His people.
Isaiah said this to the people of Judah: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:3-4, KJV).
We will have strength and peace when we seek God and give Him our decisions.
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2 Responses
How timely can that scripture be? Thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful teaching and opportunity to recognize: God’s Principles are timeless and the human condition has not and will not change.
Now it is likely a Believer will know just what I have stated. A new Believer will wonder about what I stated. An unbeliever will believe I have just made an ignorant statement.
Is it too late for you to change “on” to “own?” We may share the same tendency to drop a letter with a weak stroke on the left hand. Mine is likely due to neuropathy from nerve compression.
Back to the subject of “decision making” and the concepts of “peace & strength.” Taken out of context, I do not know anyone who would have thought is wise to buy a field when one knows the land will be over run. Taken out of context, I do not know anyone who will consider being banished by one’s own people the fulfillment of plans to prosper or strength. Such concepts are only fulfilled in the context of Christ who’s horizon is beyond our sight in the flesh. And so it is, we are to walk by Faith, not by sight. Regardless of how foolish it seems to those around us.
But, in a very more general sense, I couldn’t agree with your perception and the perception of the new Believer more. Much pain and loss of time ‘in service’ to our Lord could have been avoided with an earlier decision. It has been the regret of every true believer I have known. Understanding we cannot control the actions of others, only our own. (It took me three tries to get “own” written as intended.)
It always saddens me to hear someone say, “I’m glad I made all those wrong decisions, I not sorry at all, they made me the successful person I am today.” To me that is an example of a proud, unrepentant, flesh masquerading behind a facade of “righteousness. We are the sum of our experiences. We are more that than when repentant with those sins of the past nailed to His Cross of the Greatest Love.
As you have Preached and Lived, as far as I know (and if it is not so, I really don’t want to know about it), Love is Action. Love is much more than sentiment.
Thank you Sir!
Blessings.