Thanks to all who read and left your thoughts on my latest blog entry. In this entry, I'll try to respond to the questions raised in those comments.
As Maggie touched on, we are called to pray in order to be at peace about life. Our worrying and trying to figure things out on our own leads to anxiety. Praying and trusting God leads to peace. We can be at peace in a decision or situation, knowing that God is at work and He is accomplishing His purposes in that situation. And no, it's not that easy (at least for me that is). For some reason, I tend to think that I know better than God and I should "help Him out" by worrying or reminding Him how I want things to turn out. Seems like wasted effort.
Now, let me try to deal with the couple of questions Jenn raised. The basic question was: what response should we look for from God in a decision situation or how do we have more confidence in a decision we're making? First off, let's distinguish between 2 types of decisions: sometimes we have a moral decision (one where the Bible gives a clear answer), other times we have a nonmoral decision (one where the Bible does not give a clear answer one way or another). It seems like most decisions we face would be nonmoral decisions. Even though the Bible may not be crystal-clear on something like that, I think we still need to aim to approach them in a God-honoring way. Let me share how I approach decisions like this. I first will spend time in the Word and prayer examining things like my motives and how one alternative or the other alternative would be more glorifying to God. Is it only some type of selfish, non-godly desire (like greed) driving me to a job offering more money or the desire to be better able to provide for my family or support missions? I think wisdom is a key factor too: maybe what I'm thinking of doing isn't prohibited by Scripture, but is it something wise for me to do right now? For example, I have heard someone I know who is married share that he won't do a 1-on-1 lunch meeting with a woman. Is that prohibited by Scripture? No, but he has decided that just isn't wise for him in that situation. Then, I seek advice from some wise godly people to help get some additional perspective. Then, I make a choice! I don't sit around and wait for an inner feeling, I don't ask God for a sign, but I trust in the wisdom He's given me and take a step forward in faith. Waiting for God to show us what to do isn't living by faith; that's unbelief. Faith is being able to take a step when the outcome is unsure and leaning on God's infinite wisdom.
OK, now to try to answer that question: how do we know if we've made the right decision? I think we often approach this from the wrong angle. We worry about whether we picked the "right" job or the "right" person. Instead, if we've made the decision seeking to honor God and with wisdom, we don't really need to worry about missing the mark. Instead, we should aim to do God's will as He's shown us in the Bible. So, instead of worrying if I'm in the right job, I should be seeking to do God's will in that job- there is plenty of Scripture telling us how to live. I heard someone once say that we should be more concerned about the question of how than the question of what. That is, seeking to know and do God's will as the Bible talks about isn't finding some ideal path, but rather, seeking and honoring God in whatever place in life you find yourself. So, I think we approach things incorrectly when we try to make decisions based on an inner feeling of peace or we use that inner feeling of peace (or lack thereof) to confirm whether we've made the right decision.
I think your final question hits the nail on the head: we do just need to have faith that as we are seeking after God and walking in the Spirit, He is changing our desires. We can trust that while we are leaning on Him, our desires and motives become more and more Christlike. Now, of course, we are still open to desires and feelings coming from other places too, which is why it's so critical to weigh these desires and feelings against the Word.
Does this answer questions/ address concerns about this issue?
-JRO
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2 comments:
Does this answer questions/ address concerns about this issue?
Yes - I especially liked this bit of insight: I heard someone once say that we should be more concerned about the question of how than the question of what. I never really looked at things that way before.
Waiting for God to show us what to do isn't living by faith; that's unbelief.
I wouldn't say that exactly. Seeking to know how God feels about a pending decision before I actually decide is just a desire to want to avoid His painful discipline process when I screw up. I've made enough mistakes that I'd much prefer Him be crystal clear with me from the outset, and I will do what He says! But it doesn't exactly work that way. I know, I know...:) The problem is that I don't always trust my own judgment about what is wise, but that's another blog.
I was thinking about this post earlier and wanted to add a couple of clarifications:
1. Please don't read this and assume I make wise, Biblical decisiona 100% of the time. A few years ago, someone challenged me with thinking this way and so after examining it, I came to the conclusion that this is the Biblical model and seek to apply to the decisions in life.
2. When I say that waiting for God to show us something is unbelief, I'm not implying that one who holds to this model is not a believer. I know several well-meaning Christians who desire to please God who approach decisions this way. Now, I personally don't think this is the Biblical way of doing things, but I'm not trying to call people who do things this way subpar Christians or anything like that.
Now, in response to Jenn's comment about wanting ot know how God feels about something before deciding:
Of course we want to know how God feels about something; I'd be worried if suddenly I had no concern for God's opinion of something. But, that's where persistently seeking wisdom comes in. I think there is a key distinction between asking God for wisdom to make a decision that glorifies Him and asking Him to show you which way to go.
And by the way, I think anyone reading this blog who hasn't yet needs to read the article on decision making at In Depth Studies (ids.org) and Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friessen.
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