Welcome to the In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, October 29th. The simplest decisions can become complicated when we're faced with too many options. Listen closely for biblical direction on making godly decisions with confidence and clarity. When you come to make very difficult decisions in your life, do you face them with confidence, or do you find yourself being a little intimidated? Maybe a little uncertain, maybe confused, maybe frustrated.
There are all kind of decisions we all have to make: decisions about relationships, about our finances, about our jobs, about our future, about our health. In fact, all of us are where we are as a result of decisions we've made about ourselves that relate to us, whether it's physical, financial, job, whatever it might be. And so, when we look to our circumstances and think, "Well, now, why am I where I am?" because of some decisions that you've made, or decisions that other people have made about you.
Well, you had to make a decision after they made a decision to lay you off from your job. You had to make a decision whether to throw up your hands and quit, or to keep trusting God and believing that somehow He was going to make a way for you. What I want to talk about in this message is direction. Without doubt, God will give you direction in your life. Then you don't have to say, "Well, I hope so.
Maybe so. I think so." And oftentimes people make decisions and are never settled about the issue as to whether they really and truly believe that they made the right one or not. If, for example, you make a decision and things don't turn out the way you expected, do you conclude automatically wrong decision? Or could it be that God has placed you in a position that's very difficult because of something He wants to do in your life? It isn't what you expected, isn't what you signed up for, but God has placed you there.
Then how do you respond? It's very important that you and I know how to go about making decisions.
Somebody says, "Well, very simple. What I do, I just toss a coin. Heads, I will; tails, I still will." And so. Oh, somebody says, "Well, I read the horoscope and I believe that somehow forget it," or somebody says, "Well, you know, here's what I do: I just look at my choices and just make a choice and and pray that God'll help me, and that somehow I'm just going to barrel on through." None of those are biblical ways to make decisions in your life, because some decisions are so critical, and some decisions are irreversible. You cannot change them.
And so, therefore, you and I should be wise in how we go about making decisions in our life that affect us, or affect others, affect our family, people we love, people we work with. Very important how we go about it.
So, what I'd like to do is I'd like to give you a pattern. You may do all of these things already, but maybe you don't.
So, put it this way: when suddenly a decision comes, do you have a certain way to think about it? Or do you just think?
Well, I got to figure this out.
So what I want to do is to make it simple. It's simple, but not necessarily easy. But I can tell you this: it absolutely works every single time, because I know by experience. It's what I've been doing for years and years and years, and I know that it works. And I know that God is in it because He loves us and He wants what's best for us.
He's going to enable us to make a wise decision.
So I want you to turn, if you will, to the twenty-fifth psalm, and I just want us to read one verse. We can read lots of them, but look at this twelfth verse, and here's what he says: Who is the man or woman who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him.
That is, God will give direction for our life. He will instruct him. He says in the way he should choose.
Now, if you think about, for example, let's go back to the Old Testament. How did God answer the question of direction in the Old Testament?
Sometimes by an angel, sometimes by God speaking to him personally.
Sometimes, for example, God would give them some sign, and so visions, dreams—it all different kind of ways to speak to people.
Now, you and I live in the New Testament day, and we have the awesome Word of God that settles a lot of these questions automatically. But when somebody says, "Well, does God still speak to people personally today?" and the answer is absolutely. God is willing to reveal Himself. He's willing to speak to you very, very clearly, as clearly as is necessary. If He knows your heart is right, and He will know whether it is or not, and that you're willing to do what He says, do.
So, with that in mind. Let's think about how God speaks and how He wants to speak to you. And so often God has spoken to people and they refuse to listen to Him. There's a reason.
Now, I want you to notice in this verse. I want you to notice the first part of this. He asked this question: Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Now, watch this carefully. Then he says, "Listen." Then he says, following that, God will instruct him, the man who fears the Lord, in the way he should choose. What does it mean to? Fear of the Lord, because he says, God will instruct that person in the way he should choose. When the Bible speaks of fearing God, that two words, several words for fear, but primarily we have two different kind of fears.
There is fear which is a fear of being afraid. Being afraid of something, you say, I fear fire, I fear swimming, or and then there's the fear which this verse means reverence. The fear of the Lord is to acknowledge, to stand in awe before Him. The fear of the Lord means you reverence Him as the sovereign of the universe, the creator of all things. That He's the Lord God.
He's omniscient, omnipresent. He's the master. He's merciful and holy. That is, when you and I come to God, we're coming to this awesome God who is our Father, but He's still up and above and beyond anything that you and I can describe. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
So when we talk about fearing God, we're talking about acknowledging who He is, acknowledging His authority and His right to dictate to us and to show us what we should do in every single situation. All of us should have a fear of the Lord. The Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." When somebody says to you, "And so and so is a wise man," then find out what they believe about God. He said, "Fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." So we're talking about this awesome sense of authority, recognition, worship, and adoration of Almighty God in light of who He is. He says, "The person who fears the Lord, God, will give him instruction and direction for his life." Now, with that in mind, what I'd like to do is I'd like to give you six words.
They're phrases, but I want you to remember the six words. If you will follow this pattern, I can absolutely assure you, guarantee you, God will give you clear direction without doubt, no matter what you are facing in life. That's what He desires to do. He doesn't desire to keep you wondering about something, and here's the first word. If you'll think about it for a moment, if you're in the process of of making a decision, the first word is clear the pathway.
There's a phrase, clear the pathway.
So the pathway is what we are talking about.
Now, what do we mean by that? You notice what he says. He says, the person who fears the Lord, God will enable him to make the right decision. Think about this. You and I coming to the Lord to ask Him for direction for our life.
Clear the pathway means simply this: clear your heart of any known sin, disobedience, whether it's an attitude or action. You got to get rid of that. Think about this. You're asking Holy God to give you His mind to a sinful mind that is living in sin and intends to keep on living in sin, and you're asking God to give you direction. He's not going to do it.
Or you can come up with something, and you may make a decision that you think, "Well, I made the right decision." If you didn't ask God, eventually, catch up with you. What I want you to say is this: the very idea of living in sin and asking God for His guidance—it's a contradiction. For example, sin. Listen, sin is to the mind what fog is to the highway in front of you. When you're driving down the highway, sixty, seventy miles an hour, and all of a sudden you come to this river and this fog has just covered the highway, tolling completely.
You can't see twenty feet in front of you. Sin does to the brain, to the mind, what fog does on the highway.
So, when we say "clear the pathway," we are saying, "Look at your life, and ask yourself the question: What is it in my life that doesn't fit who I am and my relationship to Him that will hinder God from giving me clear direction—direction without doubt." He will make it crystal clear, but you have to start with a clean heart. Clean heart, listen. Clear mind. Heart's not clean, your mind's not going to be clean because it all fits together.
So you're asking God to show you direction for your life. The first thing you have to deal with is what is there in my life that would keep God from giving me very clear direction. I say again, if He gave you clear direction. You're living in sin. You keep at it.
He's just condoned your actions. What will you do? Keep living in sin, and God could never. He would never abide by that.
Now, you say, "Well, when you say clear the pathway, what do you mean?" Two things. Number one, you got to deal with sin, and secondly, if you really want God's direction, you have to bring your desires to a point of. Neutral. Listen, you have to bring it to, to a neutrality in the eyes of God. Your eyes, Lord, this is what I want.
But if this is not what you want, I'll do whatever you say. In other words, it's a submission, up to His will, whatever that is.
So you have to bring it to neutrality. You say, well, now if I have a very strong desire, you mean I got to give up my desire? You have to be willing to submit. Your will, and let Him bring you to the point of being neutral. To this point, Lord, this is what I want.
This is what I think is the right thing. But if this isn't, I want Your will above everything else. I am committed to doing your will. I may not like it, but I'm committed to doing it. When you do that, you have opened the door for God to begin to bless you and give you clear direction.
Because what you've said is, "I have a mind of my own, Lord. I have desires in my life." All of us have desires, and we've all had desires that are not the will of God. And we've all probably still have some desires that are not necessarily the will of God. But when He confronts you and you come to making the decision, you. Got to be able to bring that to Him and say, Lord, above everything else, I want what You want.
God always responds to that. Then, of course, the second one is this, and that is to exercise patience.
Now, all of us want God to answer our prayer as soon as we get through asking, because we're usually in a hurry for something, and we don't understand why God, for example, doesn't do it when we ask Him to do it. And there are always reasons for that, but let me just say this: when you have this sudden urge to jump and make a decision, back off. Ask yourself the question: Does this look like God? Does this sound like God? Does this fit who God is, as far as the principles of Scripture concern?
Because we can all get in situations where people want us to make a snap decision, a quick decision. To be patient means that I'm willing to trust God. If I say God, I've got to have it now, and God knows I don't need it now, He's going to let me not let me have it now. What I'm saying is I'm wiser than you are, and I don't trust you because I thought I should have it now, and you didn't answer my prayer. We we act like children.
We don't even realize. We do, and so patience means listen. I'm willing to submit to God's timing, and if something is not His will, we've already decided. No, I don't. I don't want what's not Your will.
And oftentimes, people will pray for a while, and then they give up and they say, "Well, I prayed a whole week, and God didn't answer my prayer." Here's what I've discovered about people who pray a whole week: usually, it's five minutes a day. And they wonder why? Why isn't God answering my prayer? Why isn't He doing this? The Scripture says many times concerning.
For example, He says, "My soul waits thou only upon God." I'm willing to wait upon Him. Be strong and of a good courage. Wait, I say, on the Lord. And the Scripture says in the 25th Psalm, in verse three: Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed. That is, God promises us.
He says, "You'll never be ashamed for waiting upon Me." Now, sometimes a person is going to ask you, "Well, what are you waiting for?" And you say, "I'm waiting for the Lord to give me direction." And they'll say, "Well, how long do you have to wait?" Because it's a foreign idea to them, the fact that you're asking in prayer for God to do something, and you're saying I'm waiting for the Lord. And here's what they're going to say: they're going to say, "Well, how do you know when God's speaking?" And what they do, they open themselves up for a real message from you about to find the will of God.
So when they sort of need you a little bit about those things, don't take it personal. They don't have enough wisdom to understand how God works in helping us make decisions in our life.
So sometimes when he says wait, why does he say wait? Not because it's not the right decision, but he knows what he's getting ready over here to make all that work perfectly for you.
So he says, "I want you to wait, and I'll show you whether this is the right decision or not." He's working out things that you and I would never know about in our future. Then, of course, be alert to pressure. That's the third one. All of us have come to decision-making process in our life, and we've made the mistake of asking our friend, "What do you think?" And usually, they'll say, "Well, if I were you, this is what I would do." They're not you. You have to be watchful for pressure, because oftentimes people want you to make a decision.
If you, for example, are dating someone and that person says to you, "I want to get married," and they come back in three or four months and says, "Look, it's now never," you tell them never. For the simple reason, don't let anybody pressure you into doing something that you're not sure is the will of God, especially in something that's irrevocable. There are financial decisions that are irrevocable. There are health decisions that are irrevocable, and so don't let somebody pressure you. And people will pressure you in all kind of ways.
Now there are two kinds of pressure. There is external pressure from other people who want to encourage you to make a decision quickly. And listen. Everybody hears this on the phone. You pick up the phone, you don't know where that number is coming from, and you and you say hello, and they just start, and they don't stop.
They don't start. You say wait a minute, ma'am, and then you realize you are talking to some machine.
Sometimes it's not a machine.
Sometimes it's somebody who's been they've been trained to just keep talking, thinking that's going to talk you into something. People a big time when it comes to not just encouraging but putting pressure on people. And you have to be careful. What is the will of God, and what is somebody's pressure? And especially if they come on sweet and loving and kind, and tell you all the wonderful things that are going to happen if you make this decision.
And here's what you can bet on. Listen, here's what you have to. You have to ask the question. Does that sound like God? Does that sound like God?
You say, "Well, how will I know how God sounds?" Read the Word of God. If you read the Word of God and listen, you fill your mind with the thoughts of God. You'll be able to discern whether something is of God, whether it's not. And so, the whole issue of pressure. There's outside pressure that people put on us, and sometimes a person says, "Well, you know, here's a job.
Take it today, or forget it." No matter how long you've waited, if you don't have clarity from God, don't do anything that you don't have God's solution for and His answer. In other words, somebody says, "Well, I've waited and you know I'm desperate." Listen, God's not desperate. God has a will for your life. He will show you what to do. He'll make it crystal clear in your life what you ought to do about any decision that you make.
Now there's another kind of pressure, and that's internal pressure. The internal pressure is this: I'm afraid if I don't do this now, I'll I'll miss it forever. I'm afraid I'm going to be rejected. I'm afraid of criticism. We have internal pressure that we place upon ourselves, and it has no basis.
Or maybe if you have an issue with somebody accepting you or rejecting you, and that's all that important to you, you'll make a wrong decision based on listen on your own pressure. It may be that the other person doesn't care what you do, but you think. That they'll reject you if you don't make a certain decision. If you live a godly life, mark this down. You will be rejected.
You live a godly life. You will be misunderstood. You fear that somebody's going to reject you, or they'll think, "Well, you're not godly. You're not Christian. You don't care." If you really cared, you'd make this decision.
If you were thinking that, which we could go on and on and on about what people think. But the issue is internally. Listen, this is the final question: Not what does she think, he think, they think. What does God think? What's the will of God?
Not my friends. What does God want me to do in this situation? And God may have you to make a decision in life that nobody else will understand. But you know that if you're doing what God's called you to do, He's going to honor that. He's going to bless you.
He's going to provide for you. He's going to equip you. He's going to work in ways that you can't ever figure it out. And sometimes God will require us of us something that we would never figure out until we take the first step.
So there's external pressure, there's internal pressure, and you have to be discerning enough to know that if your friends tell you something, it may be that you'll have a friend who'll tell you something that is exactly what God wants. You have to be careful who you're listening to, and what you always have to ask is this: What are the consequences if I make this decision? Don't ever forget that word. Consequences always follow decisions. It may be good consequences or bad consequences.
Consequences always follow decisions. And the reason people get in the mess that they're in, financially, relationally, you name it, they don't count the consequences. Thank you for listening to Direction Without Doubt. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by in touch dot org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
