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Indecisive

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I used to say I hated making decisions.  I realize now that it is not decisions that bother me, it is outcomes, especially those contrary to my liking.  I do not like pain, I do not like missing out, I do not like living “what is” with the “what could have been” just outside my reach.  I like control, although even control I am okay without so long as my circumstances are agreeable.

 

Outcome (or at least perceived outcome) drives decision.  I am fine with my decisions when the outcome is desirable.  When the outcome is undesirable (even due to circumstances beyond my control), it is not uncommon for me to question, and to regret decisions I have made along the way.  There are scores of advice for the indecisive: research, search your heart, make a list, weigh the options. Helpful perhaps, but first things first we must ask the question “Have we surrendered to God both the outcome as well as the decision?”  When we ask God to help us make a decision, are we asking for Him to help us pave a path to our desired outcome, or petitioning Him to direct our paths for His glory? The two may intersect at a juncture we foresee, but then again they might not.

 

As we let go of controlling outcomes, our decisions themselves feel less weighty.  We still make lists, search our hearts, weigh our options, and most importantly, pray.  We make the best decision we know to make and then...we exhale. Remember, if you are a Christian you have already made the most important decision of your life, the decision to trust and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  It is the one decision you can make with a guaranteed favorable outcome. Search the scriptures, as a Christian be encouraged by the outcome, or as a non-Christian pray for the understanding and will to choose this most extraordinary way.  As for daily decisions, rather than dislike them, why not embrace them, make them, and then of course let go. Not just of the decision, but the outcome too!!

 

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“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”

 Proverbs 16:33 (ESV)

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