Decision Making and the Presence of Jesus
Do you ever struggle to make a decision in your life because you want it to be the most faith-filled decision and one that is most honoring to the Lord? It’s a struggle that many followers of Jesus have. “I want to understand God’s will in this decision.” The impulse is right. We want to honor God in our lives, because we don’t follow Jesus only as our Savior but also as Lord.
Kevin DeYoung in his book Just Do Something gives 3 categories for God’s will. First, is God’s secret will or will of decree. This is the will of God that has always existed, it will come to pass, and is a will that no one and nothing can thwart. Second, God’s revealed will or will of desire. This is the will revealed to us, and which as New Testament believers we find contained in the Bible. We might also call this God’s moral will. It is what he has revealed to us as being pleasing to him. Third, God’s will for our lives or will of direction.
A very common view of God’s will of direction in our lives might be best described as a bullseye. In this view God has a specific ideal blueprint for every person’s life that we either follow, or deviate from. When we deviate from his plan we miss out on this “ideal” plan for your life, and with it some potential blessings from the Lord. To determine God’s ideal plan for us we look to see if the Bible specifically speaks to the question (will of desire), we listen for an inner witness of the Spirit, and we consider personal desires, circumstances, mature counsel, and common sense.
One problem with this model is that most Christians I know only follow it when considering the “big questions” of life. What job should I take, where should I live, should I get married, etc. You pray deeply about the decision, you ask others in the church their advice and have them pray with you about it. You listen for the Spirit, and eventually make a decision. What about the small decisions? Did you call a spiritual mentor this morning and ask them for discernment on what clothes to put on today, or what you should have for breakfast? I doubt anyone I know did this. Our framework for decision making should work in the big decisions in life, but also in the everyday decisions.
A better understanding of God’s will of direction is that God’s moral will has established some boundaries, and within those boundaries is an area of freedom. Within it there is a privilege of choice. We read our Bibles and discern the proper boundaries of God’s revealed will to us, we trust that the decisions we make can’t thwart God’s plans, and then we use wisdom to make decisions that God will bless. It isn’t discerning a bullseye of God’s will for your life, but acting in faith and well as DeYoung puts it, just doing something.
Here’s a danger that can appear. After making a faith-filled decision in your life, what happens when adversity strikes? You pray, you ask for the wisdom of others, you evaluate and apply wisdom and then you act. You take the new job, but once you start you realize the work is harder than you hoped, and your boss is difficult to work for. You move in with new roommates and conflict immediately emerges. You step into a ministry position at church and then face a serious medical issue in your life. Are these problems an example of God not blessing your decision? You wonder if God willed for you to do something else, and now He isn’t blessing the decision that you made. The circumstances you face cause you to question the decision you made.
This isn’t how the Bible shows us walking in faith with Jesus. In Mark 4:35-41 there is a story where Jesus invites his disciples to join him in a boat.
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Consider a few points from this story.
Jesus invited them to get in the boat with him. As far as discerning God’s will this is the best case scenario! Jesus actually tells them exactly what to do. They didn’t discern his will incorrectly at all. He actually invited them into the boat knowing the storm would come into their lives.
Experienced fishermen were genuinely afraid for their lives. Most of the disciples had spent their lives on this same body of water before following Jesus. They knew how to adjust things on the boat, how to face the boat to make it through the storm. This was an area of expertise for them, but even they felt overwhelmed. They were quickly about to be in over their heads.
They questioned Jesus. Jesus, do you not care that we are suffering and are about to die? You invited us into this boat with you. We are obediently following you on this mission, it’s not right that things aren’t going how we thought they would.
Do we not often act this way when we can’t see God’s blessing in our decision making? The truth is that God doesn’t promise that a faithful decision will not lead to adversity in our lives. In fact we see that sometimes he leads us right into the midst of adversity. His character as revealed to us even in this one story is that He is still a God that is always with us and He is sovereignly in control. When you question a decision you’ve made, Jesus asks “Why are you so afraid? Do you not remember that your faith is in me?” If he desires he can calm the storm in your life with a simple word.
The next time you are making a decision remember just a couple of things. God has given us his word so that we can determine decisions that are pleasing to him. If the decision you make is within God’s moral will then you have freedom to make a wise decision for Him. Regardless of your decision you cannot thwart God’s will, it will come to pass. So make a wise faith-filled decision and do something. After you have made a decision and when adversity comes, do not question if you made the wrong decision. Remember that as a follower of Jesus his Spirit is always with us and He is faithful to us. Do not fear but continue to trust him and make decisions that continue to honor Him in your life.
