Decisions, decisions, decisions!

I am at a point in my life where I am having to make some major decisions. I guess there’s no way to avoid decisions because everything in life involves them. We make decisions about everything from small things like what we eat to major ones like who to marry or whether to take up a job offer in a different state or even country.

Unfortunately I can not see the end from the beginning. The decisions I make today, I know not how they will affect me years from now or the course of my life even. I can only hope and pray that the decisions I make will be the ones God would have me make.

I do not have all the answers and can only see the present. I have a fear of making a decision on my own. When I say “on my own” I mean without God’s approval. I think it’s very important to have God’s approval in all things because I know that His blessing attends the decision. But if I make one on my own, I am really “on my own”.

So I am just praying that I can hear His voice and that I will follow His leading as is written:

[27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: John 10:27

The problem is that not all that glitters is gold. Glittering in this case being what seems good in our human eyes. Not all that appears good is what God thinks is for our good.

Just as we can not conclude that a metal is gold just because it looks like gold, we shouldn’t measure something by how attractive it looks either. Food that smells good doesn’t always taste good. An excellent job offer does not always translate into a good working experience that will last. A beautiful woman or handsome man does not mean they are beautiful in the heart.  Not all that looks or sounds good is good for us and as good as it may seem might not be God’s will for us.

But being human, we are more prone to move by sight and not by faith. We are more likely to be attracted to the things we can see and feel but rarely or never the things that we have not seen or felt. So if it looks good most of us think that it must be good but more often than not, it isn’t the case.

[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

[1] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Without faith it is impossible to please God. To truly believe in God takes faith because we have not seen Him. To follow His leading and hear His voice in all aspects of life takes even more faith because His directions often contradict logic or our human reasoning. Human logic or reasoning is based on tangible observable things. Faith exists in the realm of the invisible! He said:

[8] For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

[9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8, 9.

If we would lean solely upon logic or reasoning in decision making, then from our point of view it would be foolish for Moses to leave the luxurious life he led in the Pharaoh’s house to take up instead the task of leading his people to freedom.

Moses grew up in the palace, had the finest education, lived a good life, enjoyed the life of a prince even being an heir in Pharaoh’s house. So he was in line for the highest earthly throne at the time and all was good. God called Him to the task of leading his people from bondage to freedom, and with the call he had to give up a life of luxury and a chance to one day be the most powerful man on earth. From our reasoning it seemed like he was making a mistake. He could see something that all the others around him could not see. They could only see the present and how his life was “promising” but he could see beyond all that with the eye of faith as is written:

[23] By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
[24] By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
[25] Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
[26] Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
[27] By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
[28] Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
[29] By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. Hebrews 11:23-29.

Answering God’s call would mean he would go from being a prince to be with his people the slaves. He would give up the excellent education he received to be God’s ambassador. For this task the preparation did not involve years of education and training in what the world considers great but in what God considers great, the school of humility. As soon as he answered the call, he became a shepherd which he was for the next 40 years of his life.

Being a diplomat yet alone an ambassador involves a substantial amount of education for any country. I can imagine what it takes to represent a powerful nation such as the United States. Moses was representing the most powerful government there is, the one that was, is and always will be. Moses was representing God Himself, and yet he underwent 40 years of training in the school of humility, herding sheep. It was after this training that he was fit to herd the Israelites out of Egypt by God’s power.

This is just one example of how God’s path may seem to contradict logic. If we desire to be His sheep which follow Him and hear his voice, it is important to realize that in some cases it might require walking a path that appears foolish to onlookers, that is uncomfortable and giving up certain things that we cherish. Even though Moses’ call required giving up all these luxuries and prospects, he answered. Most of us if we were in his shoes might have doubted if God had really called us because we are used to measuring God’s blessings in terms of comfort level. The more comfortable the path then God is right there. If it’s uncomfortable then God has forsaken us!

Some of you might get in similar situations and I’m in one even at this time. I have good prospects that seem attractive for my career but I am not fully convinced that it is the path I should take. I am praying that I am one of God’s sheep to begin with so that I am able to hear his voice. I hope to be a part of his flock which:

… follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth... Revelation 14:4

Sometimes the path that God requires us to take is one where luxuries have to be given up and plans for one’s life of worldly success have to be shelved. It might appear foolish to observers but we have to understand that God sees not as man sees. Greatness in human eyes is vanity in God’s eyes. Greatness in His eyes is foolishness to man as is written:

[14] But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14

 In Moses’ case what God called him to do seemed insurmountable. He was disconnected from the people he was supposed to lead out of Egypt. He had lived the life of a prince when his people were slaves. His potential in the world was great and the sky would have been the limit had he pursued that path. But he chose instead to answer God’s call to deliver his people out of 

bondage, to give up the comfort and the throne to which he was heir.

So, being foreign to his own people, he is called to lead them out of Egypt which seemed impossible in itself because the Israelites were slaves. All they knew to do was work and they had no means to wrest themselves out of bondage to the Egyptians. This made answering God’s call all the more foolish because the probability of them leaving Egypt while defenseless was zero according to logic or fleshly human reasoning. But Moses stepped out in faith and gave all up to answer the call.

He didn’t have a plan B! He believed that God would do what He said he would do and He did just that. He was their defense when they were defenseless and used means beyond human logic to not only protect them but also to provide them with food in the wilderness.

It is the same for us also. In my case if I don’t take the excellent prospects at hand, I don’t really have solid options. There really is no plan B. I already appear foolish to some just considering not taking the options at hand before I’ve even made the decision. I have no plan B but I am not fully convinced that I should take what’s at hand either.

Some of you might be in a similar situation. It might be about a career like in my case or maybe a decision to say yes or no to a potential life partner through marriage. It is not easy especially when you turn down what’s available without a plan B. But I am asking God to help me to be still so that I can hear his voice as is written:

[10] Be still, and know that I am God: Psalms 46:10

So I need a lot of prayer and asking for your help in praying so that I can make the right decision. I don’t know what to do but I hope that it will be His leading that I will follow not my own.

For those in similar situations who have to make life altering decisions, all we can do is pray and wait patiently for God’s answer and for discernment that we can know His answer.