How to Make a Good Decision Everytime

"We can gather our thoughts, but the Lord gives the right answer." (Proverbs 16:1-3)

This has been a tough couple of weeks for several friends of mine.  Tough decisions with seemingly no positive outcomes, have had to be made.  We've all been there.  We've all been required to make a decision when we were not prepared to do so.  After all, sometimes we make bad decisions.  Sometimes, our decisions reap unintended consequences.  Sometimes we have to make a decision without all of the facts.  It can be tough. 

In those times when we are gathering our thoughts, let us remember that the Lord always gives the right answer.  Prayer shouldn't be the last thing we do but, rather, the first thing.  An open Bible and open ears are all that's required to hear from God.  Sit down with pen and paper. Write out the question for which you need direction.  Then prayerfully listen as you read the Word, asking God for His insight.  Write down what you hear God saying from His word.  Write down the promises you see. Write down whom God reveals Himself to be. Write down what He tells you to start and what He tells you to stop. 

I've found that God often addresses character defects in my own heart on the path to wisdom.  Often I've found that there isn't a right decision to make until I've first submitted fully to God's total and complete Lordship.  It's funny how often God's correction of me causes a correction of my circumstances.  Finally, understand that God is not in a hurry.  He's got all of the time in the world.  God's right answer will certainly come in His timing--not yours.

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.” --C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity