DECISIONS

It has been a couple of weeks since our last blog, but we have had two wonderful teams come down the past 2 weeks and we have been really busy hanging out with them and working with them as they shared the love of Christ down here in Haiti. We have another team coming this Saturday from FBC LaGrange that includes my (Matt) parents and sister and brother-in-law, and we are really excited about that too. In the midst of these teams being here, a lot has happened at the orphanage and we are still in the middle of making a lot of decisions that will affect the future of our lives and the lives of our children at All Things New. Please continue to be in prayer for where GOD is leading us, and we will try our best to keep you updated about what is going on here.

So as I sit and pray and think about all of these different things involving our children and our ministry, I realize how difficult decision-making can be. I joked tonight that it once took me 2 weeks just to pick out my next pair of running shoes because of my tendency to over think things, but one of the hardest parts of decision-making is timing. Not to act too quickly without enough information, but also not to be completely frozen because you are too scared to act one way or another. It is especially difficult when there are multiple options that all seem like they would be great.

Decision-making is also more difficult when multiple people are involved in the process. When there is a big decision to be made, it is vital that all of the facts are considered and weighed and that trusted people are approached and given the chance to give their opinion. At the same time, the more voices there are, the more difficult a decision becomes. Everyone has a different (and valid) reason for coming to their conclusion and it is easy to become convinced by whoever spoke last.

To add to that, as followers of Christ, we must diligently seek after the Lord and His guidance and His wisdom even if it is different than we initially thought. We must be on our knees in prayer and urgently asking GOD what He wants us to do and digging into the Word of GOD to see where He is leading us. Oftentimes GOD’s voice can be difficult to discern in the midst of everyone else’s just because it is so easy to hear the audible voices of our friends and family.

Maybe the most difficult aspect of making a really big decision is the pressure that can arise. We begin to think that if we do not make the right decision it could ruin our lives. What if we choose one thing only to find out that the other thing was exactly what we were hoping for and waiting for? We also wonder if we are going to offend our friends/family who were pushing us towards the other decision. Even worse, what if the decision GOD wants us to make is different than the one we make and then we end up travelling down a path outside of GOD’s will? Big decisions can really add a sense of pressure that make it even more difficult to make the big decision that we are trying to make.

So what is the answer? How do we make big decisions as we strive to follow Christ and have Him lead our lives the way He wants us to go…I don’t know exactly. I know that there is a lot of prayer involved and a lot of time getting into the Word of GOD so that we know how He is leading our lives. I also know that there is not a blueprint for every decision that we have to make. Sometimes (and probably most of the time), there is more than one right decision. While we are trying to decide how GOD wants us to choose, we don’t realize that He can use either choice in our lives to bring us closer to Him. And in the midst of big decisions, listen to what GOD has to say to us…

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?…But seek first His Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25, 33-34

Sometimes difficult decisions come, but we have an infinite and all-powerful GOD behind us who actually holds the whole world in His hands. As He is holding the world, however, He is also holding us and taking care of us…His sons and His daughters. No matter what happens, we have a GOD who loves us and gives us His wisdom (James 1:5) to make decisions and we have a GOD who will always love us no matter what.