How to Make Better Decisions – Part 2

So what practical help is available for making better decisions?  Consider this passage from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

Ask, and it will be given to you; 
seek, and you will find; 
knock, and it will be opened to you. – Matthew 7:7

Jesus provided three clear steps we can follow that open up God’s wisdom for us.

 ASK.  A believer with an active prayer discipline naturally makes better decisions because he is vitally connected to the only true source of wisdom.

 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, 
who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. – James 1:5

We cannot overestimate the value of an ongoing daily time of prayer and connection with God.

SEEK.  

We have a reliable, trustworthy, and authoritative source to lead us in our decision making quest:  God’s Word.  The Bible has every principle we need to form our thinking, attitudes, and perspectives.

All Scripture is breathed out by God 
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, 
and for training in righteousness, 
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Regularly read, study, and memorize God’s Word and you will be “complete and equipped for every good work.”

KNOCK.

God does not write instructions on paper and mail them to us, nor does He text us or email us with specific directions.  Once we have prayed and sought God’s direction in His Word, we eventually have to step out in faith to realize the benefit of His wisdom.  

When Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land, the water did not part until AFTER they stepped into the water.

Wisdom has no shortcuts.  Pray, saturate your life in God’s Word, and move in faith.  You will look back at a track record of much wiser decisions.

How to Make Better Decisions – Part 1

How careful are you to pay attention to the ebb and flow of your life?  Our lives are not a series of unrelated circumstances and coincidences, but a carefully planned path executed by a sovereign God. One of the gravest mistakes we make is to fail to recognize the path of God’s intentional activity in our lives.

When it comes to making decisions, how often do we look back at where we’ve been, see where we are today, and ponder the path that got us there?  Mostly we base our decisions on emotions or ideas that seem logical in the immediate context, failing to recognize the trajectory on which God has set us.

God has given us the ability to seek and to understand what He calls “wisdom.”  Knowledge is gaining data and information (WHAT), understanding is seeing the causes and effects of what we know (HOW), but wisdom is the practical application of what we know and understand (WHY).

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise… – Ephesians 5:15

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. – James 1:5

Why do you do the things you do?  Because it seems right?  Feels right?  Because you want to?  He is a God of order not coincidence. Let me encourage you to view you life as an ongoing story.  God has a plot line along which He is leading your life.  Reflect on how God has worked through you in the past.  Consider the vision God has placed in your heart for the future.  Then ask God to show you how He wants to get you from point A to point B.  THAT is where God’s wisdom comes into play.

More on this in the next blog.