One of the traits of humankind, as beings created in the image of God, is free will, which includes both the ability to make decisions and the responsibility for the outcomes of our decisions. Learning to make decisions that will glorify God and fulfill His will for our lives can be very challenging. It can test and grow our faith, as we seek His will and wait on Him for answers and guidance.
Decision-making for Christians is meant to be a relational process, involving ourselves and God, as we bring all our anxieties to Him, knowing that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). He has told us to “come and let us reason together” (Isaiah 1:18), demonstrating His desire to carry on a conversation with us. He wants to be present and to participate in the conversation as we make decisions. He has promised that His Spirit within us will guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
Throughout our lives, we are faced with decisions that affect our future, whether they relate to what career to pursue, who to marry, how to raise our children, where to live, or how to commit to our faith and participate in God’s work. One of the most important steps for finding God’s will and making good decisions is acknowledging Him and committing our ways to Him. The Bible tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV).
Learning to make decisions that will honor God and align with His will and commands is often accompanied by times of soul searching, prayer, and testing. Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish what God’s will is in a situation or what decision will produce the best outcomes. At such times, we can wish that a lightning bolt would light up the sky or that we’d be knocked to the ground like the apostle Paul to give us a precise, infallible sign (Acts 9:3–4). And yet, so often, the voice of God is so quiet that if we don’t calm our spirit and open our minds and listen, it can be missed.
How do we play our part in the decision-making process, doing everything in our power to make right decisions, to hush our spirits to hear God’s voice, and to determine the best option in the decisions we make? God’s Word tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).
God created us in His image, as rational beings, capable of freewill decisions and of choosing to place Him at the center of our lives. This is one of the ways by which we love God with all our minds: by making conscious decisions to love God, and by seeking to glorify Him in our decisions and ways. This positions us to discern the will of God, as Paul explained in Romans: “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
As you take that first step, God will often either confirm it or new factors will emerge that will shed new light on the situation. You may need to make adjustments, as you discover that the coordinates of your original decision, while pointing you in the right general direction, need to be fine-tuned as you zero in on your final destination. Decision-making is often a process involving many choices, and each one lays the foundation for the next ones.
God usually wants us to do the work of wholeheartedly seeking His will, investigating, analyzing, assessing, and using every means at our disposal to make wise and godly decisions. He rarely seems to do things for us that we are capable of doing. I have found that I make the best decisions when I work in conjunction with Him through analyzing the possibilities and the options, and seeking His guidance through prayer.
As we place God at the center of our lives, acknowledging Him in all our ways, we can trust that He will guide us and help us to make wise decisions.