SURVIVING INDECISION

PSALM 23:3b & PROVERBS 3:5-6

All of us face difficult decisions in life.

           Life is full of moments when we also must answer the question,

                      “Are you considering this?” with “I don’t know.”

           So many decisions are difficult, what we decide does affect others,

                      and lead us down one road or another.

           But, is it the right way?

So, how do we know which is the right decision?

           How do we find out which is the right road to take?

Well, David writes in Psalm 23:3b “He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

                      He says the Survival Kit for the stress of indecision is to let God guide you.

Remember, “The Lord is my Shepherd” so The Shepherd is my Lord.

And the good Shepherd not only promises to feed us, but lead us, not only provide, but guide, not only protect, but direct.

Interestingly, when David uses the phrase “paths of righteousness,” he is literally saying “on the right road.”

                      So, David would say to us, “The Lord will keep you on the right track if you’ll let Him.”

So, let’s dig in to God’s Word, the Bible, and see how we can let God “lead us in paths of righteousness.”

I. UNDERSTANDING GOD’S GUIDANCE IN OUR DECISION MAKING:

Let’s begin by understanding the Biblical concept of God’s will.

           So many people are confused on this issue.

                      But the Bible makes it clear that God wants to guide you.

In fact, if your life is like mine, there have been times quite honestly, when He has wanted to guide you more than you want to be guided.

So, here are 3 misconceptions that people have, about God’s guidance in our decision making. that I hope will clear away some of the confusion,

                      and make us more open to utilizing God’s guidance.

(1) God’s will cannot be determined in this life.

There are some who would say it’s a waste of time to try and determine God’s will.

They quote Isa.55:8-9. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. so we cannot know His will.”

           But the Bible teaches quite the opposite.

                      God wants us to know His will for our lives.

Pro. 3:6 says it plainly, “in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

                      Literally the Hebrew word means "to make a crooked path straight."

Other scriptures teach this principle.

Psa.143:10- “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Eph.5:17- “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.”

           Scripture teaches us that not only can we know God’s will,

                      we should be earnestly seeking out His will on a daily basis.

Romans 12:2- “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

A person who wants to know God is to be seeking what God wants, praying for God’s will & guidance, to "direct your paths."

(2) Here’s a second misconception. God’s will is always unpleasant.

I know quite a few people who are afraid to seek what God wants.

           Who don’t want to surrender to God’s will,

                      because they are afraid He will make them miserable.

“If I surrender my life to God why He’ll immediately send me to be a missionary to Iraq.” That’s not true.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that God’s will is “..good, pleasing and perfect...”

           God’s will isn’t unpleasant, it’s pleasing.

                      It’s disobedience that bring misery.

Psa. 37:4- “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

I don’t think that means, if you surrender to the Lord, He will give you everything you want.

                      But when you surrender to Him, He changes the desires of your heart to coincide with His.

(3)There’s a third misconception. That God’s will is easily determined.

 In Acts 16 we see this principle.

           Paul sought the Lord’s will in determining the next place to start a church.

                      But God’s will was slow to unfold for Paul.

           God could of told him right away to go to Macedonia, which is where he eventually went,

                      but at first, all God did was stop him from going to the places he thought best.

           Paul discovered that God’s will sometimes takes effort to verify.

God sometimes reveals His will in dramatic ways, but most of the time He doesn’t write in the clouds or telephone us with the answers.

It takes prayer, counsel, meetings, interviews.. effort.

Heb. 10:36- “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

The Bible tells us, that the paths God directs us on are not always level, sometimes it’s uphill or through a mountain pass.

           In Acts 16, when Paul was finally led to Macedonia to start the church there,

                      he came to Philippi the capital, and things started well.

           He found some women gathered for prayer, he taught them, and several became believers.

                      But then it went south!

                                 He got thrown into a smelly dungeon for preaching.

Now don’t you think Paul could of said, “God I wanted to go to Asia, but you sent me here. What do I get for going where You told me? Prison.”

Sometimes God’s will doesn’t make sense at first, but later it becomes clear.

           That’s what happens to Paul here.

While he is in prison, he and his buddy, Silas, sing hymns, there’s an earthquake, all the doors are opened & the prisoners chains are loosed.

That provided an opportunity for Paul to talk to the jailer, he becomes a believer and a great spiritual awakening breaks out.

“God has not promised skies always blue. Flower strewn pathways all our lives through. God has not promised Sun without rain, joy without sorrow or peace without pain. But God has promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way. Grace for the trial, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.”

God simply promises, “I will guide you in paths of righteousness.” “I have the right ultimate plan for your life and I will see to it that you reach your maximum potential for Me.”

II. UTILIZING GOD’S GUIDANCE FOR OUR DECISION MAKING:

So the question of the evening is:

           How do I let God guide me in the right path?

           How do I figure out and utilize God’s guidance?

           The Bible says to do four things.

(1) Admit I need a guide.

David says here, “He guides me ..”

           But we’ve got to admit that we need Him to do that, and that’s not easy for us.

                      Remember, we don’t like to think of ourselves as sheep, but that is who we are.

In fact we are, by nature, wandering sheep.

Isaiah 53:6 “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

           In many cases, the real reason we don’t know God’s will,

                      is because we refuse to admit we need direction, that we are lost.

According to Phillip Keller, sheep have poor vision, they see pretty good peripherally, but not straight ahead.

           That’s why, on a path, they don’t know if it is leading them off a cliff or into a meadow.

                      They need a shepherd, someone to lead them.

                                 And that’s what the shepherd does, leads.

Notice David doesn’t say, “He drives us in paths of righteousness..”

           No, a shepherd doesn’t drive a herd, He leads His flock.

                      Why? So he will experience whatever danger there is, before the sheep do.

           Well, we are like sheep.

                      We can’t see the path ahead of us very well.

                                 We don’t know the future.

           And because as sheep we don’t see the path ahead of us, we tend to stumble.

                      Prov. 14:12- “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

           Oh, it may seem right..

                      But as Proverbs 3 says, all we’re doing is figuring out ourselves,

                                 leaning only on what we know and understand,

                                            and so we get off the right path.

           So this first step is critical..

                      The Lord must be your shepherd.

           You must “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, do not depend on your own understanding.”

            Admit it: “God, I’ll make a mess of this if left on my own, I need You as my Shepherd.”

(2) Ask in faith for directions.

David said, “He guides me..”

           God is willing to guide us, if we will but depend on Him, instead of ourselves.

Jesus said, “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Mt. 7:7)

                                 Ask, seek, knock -- ASK. God wants you to learn to ask.

James 1:5 tells us how to get wisdom, “If you want to know what God really wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; but ... if you don’t ask in faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.”(LB)

           God is willing to give wisdom, He’s anxious to give wisdom.

                      He’s waiting to give you wisdom, He wants to direct you in life.

                      But you’ve got to have two things lined up:

                                 You’ve got to ask the right person -- God.

                                 And - You’ve got to ask with the right attitude -- in faith, expecting an answer.

(3) Here’s a critical one.. Attune yourself to God’s responses.

Okay, so you’re willing to admit you need a guide and to ask with the right attitude for directions.

           But how do you tune yourself into His directions?

           Sometimes Pat will be talking to me and I’ll look like I’m listening.

                      But the truth is, I’m hearing without tuning into what she is saying.

           How do I know I do that?

                      Well, because later she’ll mention something, and I, like the brilliant person I am,

                                 will say, “What? I didn’t know that!”

And she’ll give me her look (after 30+ years of marriage she doesn’t even have to say it anymore..

The look says, “I told you that but you weren’t really listening.”

                                            And she’s right.

Well, if you have a relationship with God, then you have been designed to hear His voice.

           But you need to tune in, pay attention to Him.

           Out of all the creatures God created and put on the earth,

                      only human beings have the ability to tune in to God to take in what He says.

Job 33:14- “God does speak -- sometimes one way and sometimes another -- even though people may not understand it.” (NCV)

So the question is not, does God speak, but are you really listening?

           When God speaks are you tuned in?

           If you don’t hear God then,

                      a) You have your tuner receiver off - you’ve never established a relationship with God.

                      b) You’re too far away from the receiver.. you’re not paying attention. -or-

c)You’re on the wrong channel-

                                 if God’s on channel 13, and you’re on channel 4, you’re not going to pick it up.

           What channels does God use? Well, I can think of at least 5, let’s look at them.

(a) The primary way that God speaks is through the Bible.

A lot of the direction you need for life is right in the Bible.

           God says life is a journey, and He’s given us a road map.

2 Tim. 3:16- “All Scripture is given by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right.”(NCV)

           The Bible is what you need, to negotiate the maze, and different pathways of this life.

                      But if you neglect to read the road map, you’re going to get lost.

You say, “Rod, God has never said anything to me!”

           Really? Are you reading the Bible?

                      If you don’t ever look at the road map, how’s God going to direct you?

           The most basic question you can ask yourself, about the decision that confronts you is:

                      “Does my desire agree with Scripture?”

                      That gets some debris out of the road right away.

           It’s silly to wonder-

                      “Does God want me to have sex outside of marriage? -or-

“Should I take this job, even though it means I won’t be able to attend church?” -or- “Should I cheat this customer?”

           It’s a waste of time seeking God’s guidance in areas that are already clear in His Word.

                      But in order to know those areas, you need to read this book, and fill your mind with it.

                      Read it systematically, emphatically and repeatedly.