Decisions, Decisions . . .

"Life is full of decisions."

The older I get, the more I'm learning about the reality of that statement.

We make decisions every day. We make decisions about routine, day-to-day living activities: what time we will get up in the morning, what we will wear, what we will eat at meal time(s), where we will go, what we will do with the day ahead of us, etc.

Every day, we make choices and decisions about our relationships. We can decide to pursue certain relationships - romantic or otherwise - or to let them "fall by the wayside," so to speak. We choose to respond kindly or unkindly to that nagging coworker. We choose to be respectful or disrespectful to our parents and others in authority over us.

If you're of-age to pursue opportunities for higher education, you have to decide which college, university, or trade/tech school to attend, which major/training program to pursue, which classes to take, which extra-curricular activities to get involved with, etc.

For those of us who have completed college/occupational school, we have even more decisions before us. We must decide whether or not we should continue furthering our education at graduate school, where we should live, which field/career to pursue, which job(s)/position(s) to accept . . . the further I go down this "after-college path," the bigger my list grows.

If you're anything like me, making these decisions and choices can be daunting. You don't want to make a wrong decision. You don't want to make a mistake. You don't want to waste your life doing something other than what God wants you to do. This uncertainty can cause worry and anxiety to creep into our hearts.

I'm not one of those people who has "always known God wanted [them] to be [fill in the blank]." I was always the kid who had a different "I wanna be a [fill in the blank]" every time I was asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Frankly, I'm still not sure what God wants me to be. Looking back on the 21 years God has graciously given me, I see some good decisions/choices, and I see plenty of bad decisions/choices of every kind. I see how all of those decisions/choices have affected those around me as well as myself. I also see how God has taken those decisions/choices - especially the bad ones - and worked them out for good.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

Romans 8:28

That verse gives me a tremendous amount of comfort. No matter how badly I may mess up, God has promised that He will always work out everything - every wrong choice, every bad decision, everything - for my good and His glory.

When it comes to any decision - especially a "major" one, like a career path, a marriage partner, etc. -  many of us (myself included) are often anxious about making the wrong choice. I catch myself spending quite a big of time weighing the options in my head. "If I were to choose this career, this might happen. If I move to this place, this opportunity might present itself. But if I do this instead of that, I might miss this opportunity . . ." Sometimes I drive myself crazy thinking this way. I like to know how things are going to turn out. Part of me would love to know where I'm going to be in five years so I can know which "roads" to take, which decisions to make to get there. Sometimes I wish God would just give me an itinerary of my life so I know what to expect, which pitfalls to avoid, etc.

But then I stop myself, and am reminded of what the Scriptures say about this:

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 

Psalm 37:4-5 

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 

Psalm 37:23-24 

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. 

Proverbs 16:3

 So many times, I let myself get so caught up in the "little picture"  that I lose sight of the "bigger picture" for which God created me: I was created to glorify God. That is my overarching purpose for being on this earth. According to Scripture, glorifying God means that I honor God by obeying His Word and by loving to my neighbor, those whom God places in my life. If I'm truly seeking to honor God, to delight myself in Him, to trust Him with my whole heart, to commit everything I am, everything I do, everything I have to bringing glory to Him, I am fulfilling my purpose in life. If I'm doing that, God will see to it that I'm in the right place at the right time as far as my secondary purpose (career/occupation, etc.) is concerned. It sounds easy in principle, but it's a hard thing for us to do in practice, given our sinful nature.

Don't misunderstand me: I'm not saying we shouldn't seek to find our secondary purpose in life. We should certainly want to find that out, but we shouldn't get worked up about it if we don't know what it is as soon as we would like. I often catch myself feeling anxious about this. I don't like surprises. I like knowing what's going to happen. Not knowing exactly what my career/occupation should be has been a test of my faith. God has been good and gracious to lead me one step at a time, just as He promised.

As I mentioned before, God has a way of taking our bad decisions and wrong choices and turning the mess that we make with those into something beautiful. Thinking on that truth reminds me of so many stories from my own life, others' lives, Bible stories, etc. One story in particular sticks out from the rest. If you'll permit me, I'd like to share it with you.

There's a scene in The Fellowship of the Ring (the first book/film of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) that really speaks to me on this subject. (**side note** If you aren't familiar with the story, please forgive me if this illustration is a bit confusing.)

In this scene, the Fellowship has been forced to take a detour and face the long dark of Moria in order to continue their journey to Mordor to destroy the Ring. Frodo, worn out and discouraged, opens his heart to Gandalf.

Courtesy of mckellen.com

Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. 

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, in which case you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us . . . " That phrase really speaks to me. If we decide to glorify God, we have made a wise decision of what to do with the time that is given to us. No matter how bad we think we might mess up, if we choose to wholeheartedly delight ourselves in God and commit ourselves to bringing Him glory, we cannot go wrong. There are so many stories - in the Bible and elsewhere - that illustrate how God can take our sinful mistakes and turn them into something beautiful. Reverting back to The Lord of the Rings for a moment, there would be no story at all had Bilbo not "messed up" and brought the Ring to the Shire.

God knew the choices we would make (and will make) before the foundation of the world. Nothing takes Him by surprise. That truly is "an encouraging thought."

Perhaps, like me, your future is a bit uncertain. You aren't sure which path to take next. Instead of being anxious, let's choose to trust God with our future. He wants to best for our lives. He knows where He wants us. The best place for us to be is in the center of His will. His will is for us to glorify Him. If we're doing that, we are fulfilling His purpose for placing us on this earth.

Focus on that, my friend. Take comfort in God's promises for your future. He will never let you down.