Great Decisions Require God's Spiritual Guidance

Making Decisions

Do you seek God's guidance and spiritual direction when making decisions? The choices we make are extremely important and often chart the course for the rest of our lives.

Most of us at one time or another have found ourselves wondering what God would have us do. Is this the person God would have me to marry? Is this business deal right for me? Should I change jobs, move? To make good choices we must have Spiritual guidance and in order to do this we must first be born again. deciding to be born again is best decision anyone can possibly make.

When we are born again we become a Christian, receive eternal life, and the Holy Spirit indwells us, giving us His Spiritual guidance. This means that every minute of every day He is available to help us make good choices, find direction for our personal lives, and, make us aware of Satan's schemes. We must learn to listen and recognized the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit in all our business and personal decisions.

I once heard a sales manager make the comment that "religious people will believe almost anything." When dealing with a worldly person, meaning someone who is unsaved, we must realize that person is under the control of Satan (Ephesians 6:12). An eerie thought, but just as Satan lied to Eve in the "Garden of Eden," he will also lie to us. (John 8:44) His purpose is to take as many to hell as possible and bring unhappiness and harm to all the rest. But it doesn't have to be that way, because the indwelling Holy Spirit who guides and directs our lives is much more powerful than Satan (1 John 4:4).

God can communicate His will to us in many different ways, including, but in no way limited to: Bringing to our remembrance a certain scripture; giving us a yearning or unction to pursue whatever He has planned; something unusual and spectacular that could only have come from Him; even hearing confirmation from another Christian. God's ways of speaking to His children are unlimited and we must always be attentive. I only mention the above as examples.

We are not ignorant of the wiles of the devil and know that he will always do his best to interfere with our decisions. In order to make sure it is God's voice we are hearing we should always seek confirmation. And how do we do that?

Recently while visiting an elderly aunt, now beyond the age of 94, she played the piano. She still plays beautifully and only struck one wrong key. Yet, this one note had a distinctly different sound and stood out from all the rest. And so it is with the indwelling Holy Spirit. Just as the one sour note stands out from the rest, a wrong choice or evil spirit will not find peace with the Holy Spirit. They will not agree, which will create a feeling of uneasiness and apprehension; An inward feeling, or "knowing" that something is just not right.

When the spirit is of God it will have a ring of truth, and you will have peace within. This may take some time, so don't allow yourself to be pushed into hasty decisions. There are choices that one may be forced to make in a timely manner. Use such time as you have to pray and listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, then make your decision!

Even at our best we sometimes seem to miss His directions, but with God, it is not the end, it is always just the beginning! If when you have sought God's will and direction and still make a wrong decision He will not allow it to wreck or ruin your life forever. Put your trust in Him and He will keep you channeled in the general direction He has chosen, and eventually back onto the exact path of His choosing.

I don't believe God wants us to dwell upon our mistakes other than to seek forgiveness if they resulted in sin, and to learn from them. In the past my most troubling mistakes were the ones made while thinking I was hearing from God. Over the years I have come to realize that these choices may not have been mistakes at all, and at any rate, were used by God to nudge me back onto the path He had chosen for me. It is a place I would not trade for anything on this earth.

Hold onto your faith, keep believing and praying through all your decisions, look for confirmation, and especially the inner peace from the Holy Spirit. God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

Blessings,

Samuel