How To Think Christian in Decision Making
It should not come as a shock to anyone, that everyone must make decisions. It doesn’t matter if you are a small child choosing which toy to grab or an adult facing a choice that could significantly alter your family’s life. We all face choices and as a result make decisions. As Christians, we strive to make choices in line with God’s will, but often agonize over what that could be.
It also shouldn’t come as a shock to realize that God graciously provides guidance for making decisions in line with His will. A good father doesn’t leave his children without guidance, and God is the perfect Father. Our responsibility is simply to search His Word for that direction and faithfully and prayerfully move forward in it. So, let’s consider together what the Bible says about God’s will and how we can make decisions in light of it.
Theological Framework
In the Bible we see various forms of God’ will manifested. When it comes to making decisions in our daily life though, two stand out. They are God’s sovereign will and God’s moral will. When we refer to God’s sovereign will, we describe His rule over all things. We see this clearly throughout Scripture. The Bible says that God’s sovereign will cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2). We also see that God works all things out to His desired outcome (Ephesians 1:11). It is God’s sovereign will that everything must bow before (Daniel 4:35). Typically, when we say we want to follow God’s will for our lives, we are really wanting to know what His sovereign will is. This isn’t for us to know though (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Imagine you are standing in a circle. No matter how hard you try, you can’t move outside of it. This is what God’s sovereign will is like. No choice you make can enable you to move outside of God’s sovereign will for your life. To some this may seem frustrating, but to the Christian this should be incredibly encouraging. Why? Because God isn’t just sovereign, He is also good. God is the very definition of what goodness is (Psalm 34:8). This means that when you are facing a decision you can rest knowing that no matter what you choose, God is sovereign and good. Your choice doesn’t catch God off guard and leave him scrambling to work new things out. It also means that when you choose wrong, God is still sovereign.
God’s sovereignty though doesn’t remove the responsibility we have to make right choices. This is where God’s moral will comes in. God’s moral will refers to the things in Scripture God instructs His people to do. So, to continue our analogy, within the circle of God’s sovereign will exists a smaller circle that you can move freely in and out of. You stay in the circle of God’s moral will when you make choices according to what glorifies Him and move outside of the circle when you make decisions based off human wisdom or sinful desires. As Christians, we should seek to remain in the inner circle by making choices to glorify God. This is how we experience abundant life. When we leave the circle, God will often and lovingly discipline us to bring us back (Hebrews 12:6).
Are you ready for some more good news? God tells us exactly how to do this. There are too many verses to provide an exhaustive list, but here are some of the things that Bible tells us are within the circle God’s moral will: to give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18), to grow in sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3), to know God’s instruction (John 7:17), to love justice, walk humbly, and love kindness (Micah 6:8), to abstain from immorality (1 Thessalonians 4:3), to prefer others (Philippians 2:3), and so many more. Simply put, when making decisions, we need to examine what instruction God has given us and make sure our choice is keeping step with it. So, let’s consider now some practical ways we can do that by thinking of decisions as a train with various stations along the way.
Practically Making Decisions
As I seek to lead my family and make decisions in my own life, there are four possible stations for the decision train to get off at. When I answer yes to a question on the route, I know it’s time to de-train and get to work at that station. Just like you can’t change the order of stops a train makes, you can’t change the order in which you ask these questions.
Does one choice glorify God?
The first station we roll into asks the question, “do one of the choices presented better glorify God?” To answer this, I need to understand God’s moral will for me. Sometimes these decisions are easy. Sometimes however they can be quite hard. But we can find the wisdom we need to move forward by exploring Scripture and seeing what God actually asks of us. If the choice is between lying on our tax return or being honest about our income, the answer should be clear. One choice brings glory to God (Proverbs 11:3), and one does not. When we have a yes answer, our decision is made, and we can move forward.
Some choices can seem harder though. Choices like, is God calling me into a new vocation or new job? When faced with these decisions we won’t always get a clear yes answer, but we shouldn’t abandon the process. Instead, we should prayerfully examine Scripture, talk to a biblically discerning friend or church leader, and examine our hearts. Questions you should ask here are: does the Bible seem to affirm this or is in the realm of Christian liberty? Do others seem to affirm this choice based off their own time in prayer and Scripture? Do I feel a unique calling into this field that is not rooted in my own selfish ambition but am confident is from God? If you still don’t have a clear yes, don’t panic, just get back on the train and let’s roll down the tracks to stop two.
Does one choice honor my spouse?
If you are married, the next stop you need to consider is the way your choice will impact your spouse. Next to your relationship with God, there is no other person more important because there is no one else you are in a covenant relationship with. Both husbands and wives are instructed to love one another (Titus 2:4 and Ephesians 5:25). In addition, we are commanded to consider the preferences of others more than our own (Philippines 2:1-11). This seems to be hard for people to live into.
When you are making a decision, do you first consider the preferences and impact this choice would have on your spouse before your own desire? If you answered no, then you may be outside of God’s moral will. As a husband, before I consider what I want, biblically (and joyfully) I must consider what my wife wants and how I can serve her with my choice. This applies to wives as well. Remember if I have gotten to this station, I have already determined that neither choice A or B glorifies God more clearly. In counseling, and even in my own life, I have seen far too many of us try to skip this station. The Bible doesn’t skip it though, and neither should we. If at this point (and this is rare) you still don’ t have a clear yes, then all aboard! We are off to stop three.
Does one choice care for my children or others more?
Stop three asks us to consider the way our choice will impact our children or other people. Drawing once again from Philippines 2, we see that biblically we are to consider others as more important than ourselves. Note that Paul doesn’t specify what people. It is rather vague and ambiguous. Additionally, the Bible instructs us time and again to show sacrificial love to each other (John 15:13, Colossians 3:14, Romans 12:10, 1 John 4:7). When making a tough decision, you need to prayerfully consider how this choice will impact others. Obviously, you are not responsible for everyone you meet, but if you have reached this stop, you should at least examine if there is anyone else you need to consider when making your decision.
If you are a parent, you must prioritize the interests of your children above your own. Your children have been entrusted to you by God to steward into adulthood for His glory (Psalm 127:3). So often parents make choices that benefit themselves at the expense of their children. If you find yourself doing that, once again you are likely outside of God’s moral will. You only have your children home for a short season. Make choices that care for them and their interests like your Heavenly Father does for you. So ask, yes or no, do one of these choices better care for your children or others you are responsible to? If you answered no, then we are off to our final stop together!
Final stop! What do you want to do?
Wow, this is pretty rare, but you did it. You reached the end of the line for the decision train. If you have made it all the way to this point without a clear yes at any of the previous stops, then you now get to simply choose. As believers, we often under emphasize the Christian liberty we have in Christ (Galatians 5:13). If we have examined Scripture, prayed through our choices, sought to glorify God, and considered how our choice will affect the people at stops two and three then we simply choose what we want to do and move forward in it. Glorifying God doesn’t mean we will only ever make choices that come at cost to us. Certainly, that may often be the case, but not every decision has to be a hard decision.
Conclusion
God is completely sovereign, so we ultimately can’t escape His will. In His love, however, God has told us what He desires for us through His moral will. When faced with a choice in life, climb aboard the decision train and see what stop your decision dictates you take. As you do, you will find that stop one becomes clearer and clearer because as you seek God first, your desires will begin to align with His (Psalm 37:4).
