A few weeks ago my wife and I were eating at Chili’s and I kind of overheard two ladies having a conversation behind me. (Mostly because I was eaves dropping) What I gathered from their conversation was one lady was perplexed concerning a decision about what her daughter should do. My ears perked up when I heard her say, “I don’t know if it’s God’s will that she should do this or if it’s Satan misleading us?”
I know this conversation because I’ve had it with myself on countless occasions. Should I turn left or right, should I tell them or not or should I buy this or it is a trap. I’ve heard many in tears and was totally distraught because they didn’t know God’s will for their lives.
Let’s take a fast common sense look at this. If you are not at peace and if you are torn apart in a decision… then this will inhibit you from serving and loving God. So, who is the winner here? I know someone who agonized over a decision for nearly a year. All it did was produce sleepless nights and unhealthy weight loss. Is this God’s will? If you’re wondering, the answer is NO. Right or wrong it couldn’t have done them any more damage than it did.
One of the definite ways we can know God’s will is to see what His Word has to say about the matter. Should I have an affair or should I abuse my wife or children? It’s in there! What about things such as, should I buy this car or house? Well, it may not tell you specifically what to do, but you can look up principles on finances.
I have always hated making decisions and I would twist and toil over some of the stupidest things. I finally learned that peace comes with making a decision. Right or wrong I know that God is always there in my decision even if I make the wrong choice. He’s not necessarily going to bail me out, but He will use it to teach me something.
Years ago when my oldest son was around 3 years old we were at a grocery store and he saw the gumball machines. Of course he wanted go get something. He had one dime and was determined to spend it. When he went to the machines there were several to choose from. One was about empty, but it had cool toys and the other had plenty of gum. I strongly encourage him to get the gum because of the odds of getting a toy was slim, but I let him make the choice. Of course he chose the toy and didn’t get anything. He was sad and it broke my heart, but I didn’t bail him out and made him live with the choice.
Some people would have thought this was cruel. He refused to listen to my experience and wisdom so he suffered the consequences. Is this not true with us and God? To this day when my son has a difficult decision he will call me for counsel. I never give him the answer. All I will give him are choices. Then I let him make up his own mind. If I was to tell him what to do and it was wrong, then he could turn around and blame it on me. Most of the time we already have our minds made up. We’re just looking for someone to agree with us.
This finally brings us to the point I wanted to make. How many times have we wanted it to be God’s will? It was really what we wanted in the first place and now we have a so-called stamp of approval. By the way, twisting God’s arm isn’t the same thing as His will. If I told you that I felt God was telling me to tell you something and I was wrong…Then I can blame it on God and you can’t blame me either. We like to hide behind God so we will makes statements like, “I really felt like the Holy Spirit was leading me to get this new car or I really felt like God wanted me to share this with you.” That way if it blows up in your face then you can always blame God.
The funny thing about all this is when I heard the 2 ladies talking I wanted to say something to them and help if I could. Then I started twisting and turning over this decision…Should I or shouldn’t I?
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