After Jordan’s phone call on the house, I got to thinking and want to share something that took me years to figure out. How to make a decision with God’s direction when you dont totally know it’s God.
It is critical to have Godly counsel in your life – folks that are mature in the LORD, hear His voice and will speak the truth rather than speak what you want to hear. If you have a few of those around you, you will do well. Those are the guardrails that will keep you from going into the ditches.
The process:
1. Ask God for wisdom and believe He will give it to you. Not sure what to do? Where to move? What to offer? What color to paint the house? Ask HIM. Then go about your business knowing that He will bring the answer. James says that if you dont have faith, you will be tossed back and forth – double-minded. Trust.
2. Ask your counsel to prayerfully advise you on the matter. If big enough, have them go pray about it and then report back to you what they believe God is telling them, what wisdom says in the moment, etc. They may not always hear a word, but they could just have the right answer because of who they are to you or the grace they carry.
3. Listen to those voices. Accumulate your answers. Sit down with each other and talk through them practically. Ask God to show you anything else you need.
4. Just sit with it a day or two. Never make a decision in the moment until you absolutely have to. Wait on the LORD. Wait.
5. After processing, make the decision. It is OK to make the wrong one. This is where Christians get all messed up. They think they must get it right. You dont. God is big enough to bring the outcome He wants to happen. We get to play with a loaded gun when everyone else shoots blanks. If you get it wrong, He will bring good out of it, teach you what the right move was and how to get there. Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.
So, you can have confidence that His grace is big enough to make whatever decision you make turn into the right one. That’s way cool. That’s a perfect Father.
6. It takes humility, trust and faith to operate this way. By submitting yourself to God and others, you humble yourself. God gives grace to the humber. By knowing that He brings good out of all things, you can have the confidence you need to actually make a decision and move forward. Trust Him. Again, TRUST HIM.
7. Own your decision. If it ends up being the wrong one, fine, as I just elaborated on. But do not project the wrong decision on to your counsel, onto God or anyone else. Own it. It was your decision. Learn from the process and grow a little more in the LORD.
All of these moments provide opportunity to develop spiritual maturity and to develop your relationship with Him. That is the goal in all of it. The rest of it is just circumstance, even if the circumstance means a lot. He already knows this.
Matt 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.