Pray. Read. Ask. Move. Trust.

How to Make BIG Decisions – The Guide that Will Never Fail You Pt. 2

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105).

See our last blog for why we can trust the Bible to be a life guide.

When the Bible really doesn’t seem to answer our questions, the verse still applies.

When the decisions we need to make are non-moral, the Bible is still a guide.

Let’s live determined to have God’s wisdom guiding us, His Word being a light to our paths, and let’s watch our path, even in making big decisions, be guided.

But if there’s no verse for questions like where to go to college, what job to take or who to marry, how do we navigate these decisions?  

1. Pray – Prayer is communication with God. He wants us to depend on Him, to seek Him, to look to Him for guidance. (James 1:5; Jeremiah 33:3; Isaiah 30:21; Matthew 6:9-10; Philippians 4:6-7) This is an absolute must in all decision making. If we want to make the “right” decision, God must be at the forefront. He has to be considered. His will prevails, so we want to be in line with it. (Proverbs 16:9)

2. Read – This point lines up with our last blog (see here) about using the Bible as a guide. Even in non-moral decisions, guidance and wisdom come from hearing the Lord. What better way to hear the Lord than to read His words to us? (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 19:7-9; Psalm 119:105)

3. Ask – Seeking guidance from godly people is KEY. Community is here for a reason. We cannot live this life alone. (Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 13:20; Proverbs 15:22; Proverbs 18:1-2, 24; Proverbs 19:20)

4. Move and Trust – People move and stay put without God’s voice directly in their ear ALL THE TIME. In fact, if everyone waited to make every decision until we heard God’s voice audibly speak to them, we’d rarely move. In life and in the Bible we also see redirection when God has other plans than a pursued path. (Acts 16:6-10)

Friend, God is not out to ruin your life and punish you when you get confused. His heart is not to strip you of your purpose because you went to the “wrong” college or took a job you don’t know was the “right” one.

Once you’ve established that the decision you’re looking to make is not an issue of sin or obedience, once you’ve prayed, if you’re abiding in the Word’s wisdom (see previous blog), and seeking guidance, it’s time to know that some decisions are up to us. God made humans, not robots. Humans have dreams and desires. Look at those dreams and desires through praying, reading and asking and then move.

Listen to the Lord and move. Pray and move. Read His Words and move. Ask for guidance and move.

Once we’ve sought the Lord for guidance, we can (and should) rest in His sovereignty, moving forward or staying back in our decisions. Once we do move in one direction, we must continue to abide and seek Him. HERE we can trust that He WILL guide. (Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 6:33; Proverbs 19:21)

So, friend, be at peace in your decision-making, and know that He WANTS to guide you.

Pray, Read, Ask. Then Move and Trust.

XO, Meg