In a previous post, I’ve said that the things I face in life are God’s decisions, not mine. I was freaking out over making the right decision, only to realize it wasn’t mine to make.
But wait a second… doesn’t God let us make our own decisions? Doesn’t He ask us to choose? To let us exercise our free will? To see if we’ll make the right decision? And why not just use your own brain that God gave you?
When giving decisions to God, I’ve had lots of wonderful people I deeply admire tell me these things. If this is the case, then we can’t always count on God making our decisions for us, now can we? So what do you do? How do you know if this is going to be a decision God is going to make or a decision you’re going to have to make?
During a summer camp, a friend and I played a game. One of us would walk into a wooden maze, while another would stand on a bridge above them. The person standing in the maze would close their eyes, and the person above would direct them. Although it was confusing at first, thanks to the other person’s directions, I found my way out before switching places with her.
The person stuck in the maze can’t see the whole picture. To them, the maze is simply a bunch of twists and turns. They could try to figure it out on their own, but why not trust the person shouting directions from the bridge, the only person who sees the maze in its entirety?
We are stuck in the maze. Sometimes, we might be able to worm our way out of something, but sometimes we’re completely blind. We do have wonderful brains that God gave us, but we don’t know everything. So why not trust God’s directions? Why not seek His instruction and guidance?
And to those who are concerned that God won’t give them directions:
“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you if his son asks for bread will give him a stone or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?”
-Matthew 7:8-11
Imagine you’re the person on top of the bridge. You know the person is blind. You know they have no idea how to get out of the maze. What would you do if they started shouting at you, asking for directions? Keep quiet to see if they could make the right decision by themselves? No! You know they can’t do it, so if they asked, of course you’d tell them where to go. You don’t want them to be stuck in that maze forever; you’d want them to ask!
In the bible we’re often compared to sheep. Just so you know how dumb sheep are, I once heard of a story where a herd of sheep stampeded off a cliff, until so many had fallen that they stopped dying. How? The huge pile of fluffy, dead sheep below cushioned the other sheep’s fall. Trust me, God knows what we can do on our own—not much 😉 Since He knows this and loves us, why wouldn’t He give us direction when asked?
But why doesn’t God just tell us then? Why all the stress and angst of having to wait around for Him to do something last-minute?
My family has a very skittish cat. After finishing my breakfast of salmon, I went outside to give her the leftovers. I could have made it easier for her and just tossed it out, but instead I held the bowl out, so she’d come to me. Why? I wanted her to learn to trust me, and I wanted to be close to her. She wouldn’t do it on her own, so I withheld something she wanted, so she’d have to come to me to get it.
This is just a theory of mine, but I think God does the same. He’s totally capable of giving us the wisdom we need to make decisions decades before we have to. Instead, He withholds what we need, so we’ll come to Him, so He can draw us nearer and develop a deeper relationship with us.
Okay, so what if you’ve been waiting on God, having faith, and have even asked for a sign from Him to guide you, but you’ve heard nothing. You have a deadline tomorrow, and a decision must be made. What do you do?
If it comes to this, you have two options.
a) Refuse to move without God.
“Then Moses said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
-Exodus 33:15
Refuse to budge until you hear from God. You go with Him or not at all and be determined to wait as long as necessary.
b) Go for it and see.
Sometimes, I don’t know if something is in God’s will, but I don’t want to let my fear and insecurities make my decisions for me, so I’ll go for something and ask God to slam the door shut if it’s not meant to be. Sometimes we have to act in faith and trust that He’ll be there to catch us.
What matters most is that whatever decision you come to is made with a pure heart and a longing to do God’s will. So what if you mess up or make the wrong decision? His plan is perfect. Do you really think you’re powerful enough to mess up a perfect plan?
God does want us to make the right decisions, but He never makes us decide those without letting us know what the right decision is. God is all you need for whatever major choices you have coming up in life. And if God simply says “choose” without hinting that one decision is better than the other, trust that He’ll bless either. And again, what matters the most is that you simply want His will in this! And chances are, if you’re reading this article, that is what you want. So don’t stress it!
“I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know Who holds my future.”
-Tim Tebow
What tough decisions are you trying to make? What doubts do you have when trying to “let go and let God?”