Making hard decisions

Right now, there is a decision I’m struggling with.  It is not mine alone to make, as it will affect each member of our family, but as so much of it depends on ME, I feel the weight almost singularly on my shoulders.

In this specific instance, I don’t know what it looks like to “choose courage.” I’m not even sure what it looks like to choose faith! My fears surround this decision on all sides. And, yet at the same time, it’s highly likely that whatever decision we make will probably turn out just fine. 

I’ve been in this situation before, where I desperately want to know which step is the “right” one to take.  Where I am constantly looking for “signs” and signals flashing neon bright, directing me which way to go. But, life doesn’t work that way, unfortunately.  A few years ago, Matt, my husband, was out in middle-of-nowhere Utah canyoneering with some friends.  Due to the remoteness of the area, they were entirely reliant on a handheld GPS to lead them back to their campsite after completing a 2-day adventure.  Exhausted, hot, sweaty, hungry, they really wanted to get back to camp. The difficulty was that the GPS lacked the magnetic compass so it took a few minutes to orient itself each time they started walking.  So they would walk for 5 minutes one way only to then check the GPS and realize they were walking opposite of where they needed to go.  Since it wasn’t a straight shot back to camp, there were several times they had to backtrack and confirm they were headed in the right direction.  

That is more like real life!  We have no idea if we’re going the right way until we actually start moving.  And, once we’re on the path, it’s not a straight shot! There will be a lot of back-tracking, detours and wrong turns along the way.  I wholeheartedly agree with the premise of Just Do Something, Kevin DeYoung’s book on God’s Will, “If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be in God’s will, so just go out and do something.”  We cannot sit on the couch and wait for God to reveal His ways to us so that we can be reassured our future will be clear and easy.  We have to move! We have to take action! We have to make a decision and see if doors open or close; we have to take a chance and see if the outcome is positive or negative; we have to do something and then see what God does with it.

And God will do something, as we’ve seen over and over in scripture – He will show up.  In the Old Testament, for example, Joshua clearly had God’s leading to enter the Promised Land. But God didn’t just leave it at that, He made Joshua a promise that I believe applies to us too:

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7-9

God’s promise is that if we are obeying Him in our lives, searching scripture, and applying it in our everyday actions, we can overcome challenges in front of us. God’s provision may not look the way we think it should, but – the best part – is that God will be with us wherever we go.

God will be with us.

I sometimes forget that, no matter what I decide, God is there.  I may not be acting in His will or out of obedience to Him; I may be in complete rebellion… but it doesn’t mean He’s no longer in control or no longer present in my life.  He never leaves us or forsakes us once we become His child.  He will seek after us as a faithful shepherd, and no one can pluck us from His grasp.

Even when I make a “bad” choice or a “wrong” decision, it doesn’t mean that God cannot use those moments to lead me back to Him.  He can redeem those times in my life and actually use them for His glory! Because He is still there.  He is always there.  

God will be with us.

No matter what decision our family ultimately decides to make, I can be confident that God will be working in our lives and revealing to us along the way what direction we need to be going.  It might be clumsy and clunky and hard, but He will be with us and I can trust in Him.