Tag Archives: decisions

April 26, 2022 · 5:40 AM

Seeking God’s Advice

Several years ago W.W.J.D. took over pop culture. If you didn’t have a bracelet, shirt or hat with it on it, you were not with it. Everyone was asking what would Jesus do to help guide them. That was great, but how often do we ask Him what we should do? I’m pretty good at asking him for direction on big decisions, but not so good at asking Him about smaller ones. Also, I tend to make my own decisions when the answer looks obvious to me, but truthfully, we should be seeking His advice and direction in all aspects of our life, even the ones that seem obvious.

In Joshua 9, the word about Israel defeating Jericho was spreading. Some kings who lived nearby knew that Israel was going to take over the whole land, so they devised a plan to trick them. They sent a group of people with dry, moldy bread, wine skins that had burst and worn out clothes to seek a peace agreement. Verse 14 says, “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord” (NLT). The answer seemed obvious so they didn’t seek God for direction. They agreed to the treaty only to find out a few days later that they lived in the Promised Land. They entered a peace treaty with someone they were told to destroy all because they relied on their own understanding instead of God’s.

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make” (TPT). When we rely on our own understanding, we’re not seeing the whole picture. It may seem obvious to us, but we need to rely on God to guide us, especially in seemingly small decisions. When you make the right decisions in small things, you prevent big problems down the road. God is available to guide us in every area of our life and in every decision we make. It’s up to us to take the time to seek His advice on what we should do.

Thanks to Soroush Karimi @soroushkarimi for making this photo available freely on Unsplash

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January 20, 2020 · 5:30 AM

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions.

With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make.

Proverbs 3:5 TPT

Today, as a nation, we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. He is best remembered for his work in the Civil Rights movement and his “I Have a Dream” speech. Having studied his life, his speech and the Civil Rights movement, I’ve learned a lot about him. Just like you and I, he had many flaws, he made some poor choices and at one point lacked direction in his life. His father was a minister and felt like he was supposed to go into the ministry too, but King wanted to be a lawyer or a doctor. As a young man coming out of college, he struggled with his faith and his future.

After thinking about it, he decided that the Bible had many profound truths that he could not escape. He decided to go to seminary in order to become a minister. Those years in seminary helped shape his public speaking and understanding of Scripture. I believe they have him the ability to say what so many were feeling and didn’t have the ability to express. They gave him the means to energize a people who had been emancipated for a hundred years, yet hadn’t seen a day of freedom since. Because of that decision to go to seminary instead of being a doctor or a lawyer, he changed the course of a nation and a people.

You and I are faced with struggles and difficult life decisions too. You may not think that you will change the course of a nation by the decisions you make today, but you could. I’m sure he didn’t think it mattered as much as it did what he studied as a post graduate. Our decisions have lasting impacts. Sometimes they change us or our family, but they could change our neighborhood, our city, our state or our country. What you do in life matters. The decisions you make shouldn’t be made lightly. Imagine a world where he would have been a doctor. He still would have saved lives, but not nearly as many.

When it came down to it, he made his decisions based on the truths of the Bible. That means he read it for counsel. You and I should be doing the same thing when it comes to our decisions. Instead of finding out what God thinks, we go and ask family and friends what they think. Instead of wondering about the spiritual impact to our lives, we base decisions on the monetary impacts. God’s calling on your life may not make sense at the time, it may take a while to fulfill or even seem so big that you could never accomplish it. That’s ok because He’s not asking you to accomplish His plan for your life in your own strength. He is looking for your obedience.

What decision is weighing you down today? Have you looked to God’s Word for help or to the wisdom of man? You don’t have to be afraid when you act in obedience to what God told you. Don’t look for others to try to give you every reason why you shouldn’t do what God called you to do. Look to God for guidance on your next step and trust that His decisions for your life are far better than the decisions you could ever make for yourself. Who knows, the decisions you make today regarding your calling could change the nation tomorrow.

Photo by Brian Kraus on Unsplash

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June 19, 2017 · 5:28 AM

The Right Path


I grew up in the woods. We had trails for miles back there. We had also built forts all over the place too because we were always playing war games. We had named the forts instead of the trails because there were fewer of them. If my friend told me to meet him at such and such fort, I knew which trails to take to get there the quickest. I probably could have done it blindfolded because we were back there so much. I never questioned where I was or what trail to take to get where I was going. We could get to any fort from anywhere back there.

Fast forward to today, and life is full of trails or roads to take. I’m not so sure anymore which one is the right one. Taking the wrong turn can have much different consequences than it did back then. I don’t want to mess up so I analyze all the possible outcomes before I take step in any direction. My fears create a paralysis through analysis situation quite often. Instead of choosing a path at a fork in the road, often I’ll camp there instead of moving forward.

David must have felt the same way at times. I know he was an outdoorsman from growing up as a shepherd. He fought lions and bears, and led his sheep to green pastures throughout the territory. He wasn’t scared of anything until he became king. His decisions all of a sudden had great consequences and he fell into the paralysis through analysis too. His cure came in Psalm 25:4. He prayed, “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow” (NLT). He trusted God to help him make the right decisions.

You and I can do that too. God will show us the right path to take. Even if we take the wrong one, verse 8 says, “The Lord is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray.” He has a way to get us back to where we need to be. We just have to trust Him enough to keep going when we come to those forks in the road. He’s big enough to correct our mistakes and get us where we need to go if we are willing to keep moving. If you’ve been camping because you’re not sure which way to go, take a step of faith and trust God to show you the right path. 

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September 13, 2016 · 5:32 AM

How To Make Better Decisions 


Through the years, I’ve worked with a lot of people. The ones that have always worried me are the ones who make their decisions based on emotion instead of logic. When a crisis happens, the ones who make emotion decisions react to the situation. They don’t think of the outcome or the consequences of their actions. They simply let fear, or another emotion, make their decision for them. On the other hand, there are those who don’t react to the situation. They think through the ramifications of their choice, look at the end result, then make their decision. 

I find that I try to be the latter, but often end up in the first category. I can let fear make my decisions for me instead of what I want the end result to be. When I feel like I’m making a decision based on emotion, I try to find an objective person in my life who can help me make the non-emotional decision. I think we all need someone like that. Peter had Jesus. Fortunately for Him, Jesus could rebuke him in love or heal a man’s ear.

Today though, I want to look at Esther. As queen, she had a certain level of influence over the king. But when trouble came and the Jews were facing genocide, she started to make her decision based on fear. Her cousin, and foster parent Mordecai, told her she needed to talk to the king on behalf of all Jews. In Esther 4:11 her emotional response was, “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days” (NLT). Fear was dictating her response.

Mordecai offered wisdom though. He helped her see past the fear to make the best decision. In verse 14, he told her, “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” With his help, she was able to make the hard decision to face the king no matter what. She was able to look at the outcome instead of her fear. In the end, the Jews were saved and Esther has been honored ever since.

We all need to recognize how we make our decisions. Yes, God gave us emotions, but they’re not always the best things to use when making lasting decisions. We each need that person in our life who helps us make the godly decision that’s based on the outcome God wants. Don’t let fear keep you from choosing the path God has for you. Find a godly person who is objective and can ask you the right questions. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.”

Who is that person in your life? If you don’t know, start with your pastor or a church leader.

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January 20, 2014 · 7:55 AM

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

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Today, as a nation, we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. He is best remembered for his work in the Civil Rights movement and his “I Have a Dream” speech. Having studied his life, his speech and the Civil Rights movement, I’ve learned a lot about him. Just like you and I, he had many flaws, he made some poor choices and at one point lacked direction in his life. His father was a minister and felt like he was supposed to go into the ministry too, but King wanted to be a lawyer or a doctor. As a young man coming out of college, he struggled with his faith and his future.

After thinking about it, he decided that the Bible had many profound truths that he could not escape. He decided to go to seminary in order to become a minister. Those years in seminary helped shape his public speaking and understanding of Scripture. I believe they gave him the ability to say what so many were feeling and didn’t have the ability to express. They gave him the means to energize a people who had been emancipated for a hundred years, yet hadn’t seen a day of freedom since. Because of that decision to go to seminary instead of being a doctor or a lawyer, he changed the course of a nation and a people.

You and I are faced with struggles and difficult life decisions too. You may not think that you will change the course of a nation by the decisions you make today, but you could. I’m sure he didn’t think it mattered as much as it did what he studied as a post graduate. Our decisions have lasting impacts. Sometimes they change us or our family, but they could change our neighborhood, our city, our state or our country. What you do in life matters. The decisions you make shouldn’t be made lightly. Imagine a world where he would have been a doctor. He still would have saved lives, but not nearly as many.

When it came down to it, he made his decisions based on the truths of the Bible. That means he read it for counsel. You and I should be doing the same thing when it comes to our decisions. Instead of finding out what God thinks, we go and ask family and friends what they think. Instead of wondering about the spiritual impact to our lives, we base decisions on the monetary impacts. God’s calling on your life may not make sense at the time, it may take a while to fulfill or even seem so big that you could never accomplish it. That’s ok because He’s not asking you to accomplish what only He can. He is looking for your obedience.

What decision is weighing you down today? Have you looked to God’s Word for help or the wisdom of man? You don’t have to be afraid when you act in obedience to what God told you. Don’t look for others to try to give you every reason why you shouldn’t do what God called you to do. Look to God for guidance on your next step and trust that His decisions for your life are far better than the decisions you could ever make for yourself. Who knows, the decisions you make today regarding your calling could change the nation tomorrow.

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September 17, 2013 · 7:57 AM

Out Of The Hole

It’s hard for me to believe that next week I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the lowest point of my life. I know it seems odd to celebrate such an event, but for me, it was a turning point in my life. It was the moment when I refused to go any lower than I was and made the decision that I would claw my way out of the hole that I was in no matter how much effort it took and no matter how long it took. I’m still clawing my way out of that hole, but now I’m starting to see daylight.

Ten years ago, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. There was no hope of ever recovering from what I had been through. I was hurt, embarrassed and alone. Sure I had a few friends around me, but no one truly knew the depth of my pain or what I was struggling with. I made a conscious effort to never think about that time in my life. I felt that if I could pretend it was a bad dream, the pain would go away. I thought that if I never spoke of it again, then I could put it behind me.

I moved on with my life pretending that I hadn’t gone through a painful divorce, filed for bankruptcy, lost my business or ran away from those who cared most about me. I figured that the best way out was to start my life over fresh and new as if none of it never happened. The problem was it did happen. Underneath everything I was still a mess inside. I was still hurt to the core. I was mad at God for letting me walk through that. I was mad at others thinking my failures were somehow their fault. It all boiled down to bad decision making by me.

Once I was able to take responsibility for the things that happened, I began to move forward. It’s not easy to look in the mirror when you know the pain inside is caused by the person looking back at you. I know other people played roles in delivering the punches that knocked me down, but I made the decisions that put them there and put myself in that position. I left myself open for the gut shots that took the wind out of my desire to live or move on.

I hid the pain for over seven years as I moved on with life. It was then that God spoke to me through Dave Roever that I needed to expose the wounds and face them head on. Since that time, I have begun to share my story being open and honest about what happened. I have found healing for the wounds that were so deep. I still feel the pain like I did every time I open them up, but I know that through my wounds others can find help, hope and healing for theirs.

I don’t know what you’re facing today, but I know what it’s like to hit rock bottom and feel like there’s no way out. I know what it’s like to think that there’s only one way out of the pain and anger. I can tell you that there is another way out. I found it. It was through forgiving myself and others who hurt me. It was in finding forgiveness through Jesus for the unthinkable wrongs I’d committed. It was over the course of years, hard work, dedication and never giving up. If I can make it out of that hole, you can too.

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