When faced with life’s toughest decisions, what do you do? It seems almost everyone has a process they go through when making life decisions.
Two of my close college-friends use pro and con lists. I believe they both use a weighted system where they assign a numerical value to each item based on how important it is to them, and then add up the totals.
Others I know just follow their gut feeling. I usually fall into this category, as it seems every time I have not followed my gut I’ve gotten myself into big trouble regardless of the way I came to my decision.
Some follow this gut feeling only after intense prayer (if the decision is weighty enough, add fasting to this). This can be accompanied by requests of others for prayer, and the word “wisdom” usually pops into the prayer as the primary request.
Others will ask advice of nearly everyone they know, hoping someone will offer the perfect pearl of wisdom to make their path clear.
And probably nearly everyone uses a combination of the above in their decision-making process.
I recently had to make a very tough decision. While I don’t ask everyone in the world about different decisions, I do turn to a few close friends for advice. This situation reminded me how important it is to have people in your life who can speak to me the wisdom I pray for.
Your close relationships play a vital role in life decisions. In this instance, not one single person provided the end-all be-all answer to the question I faced, but each person I talked to helped paint the picture and reveal what was truly my gut feeling. I had strong desires which were trying to drown the inner voice telling me now was not the right time.
My girlfriend, having faced nearly the same situation just a couple of months ago, pointed out what I would be giving up if I tied up more of my income. A close friend simply noted he does not go forward with things if he has major unease about the issue. Yet another voice pointed out the difference between what I want and what I actually need.
Adding the wisdom of people who know me well helped me make the right decision. For me, when I want something badly enough, I am too selfish to hear the voice of wisdom on my own through prayer. God uses the people intertwined in my life to lead me down the right path.
There was a time when I just did whatever I wanted, and I believed I was listening to God’s voice (in spite of what those around me thought or said). That way of making decisions led to some of the most painful periods of my life.
Even now, the desire to do what I really want nags at me. But the community of people I live my life with helped me to see the timing is just not there right now. So I wait and believe when the timing is right, those same voices will help make that apparent to me as well.
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