How to Choose Well
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; Deut.30:19
Difficult Choices
Are you standing at a junction in life or at cross roads with many options? Maybe your heart wants to take one direction and your mind tells you to go the other way. Sometimes the opportunities even appear equal in benefits which make it harder to discern between this way and that way.
God created us in His image and with that we received the ability to choose. Even though choices appear to have more or less equal benefits, one of them is filled with life and blessing.
Important to Choose
Not to choose is a choice already made.
“It’s choice - not chance - that determines your destiny.” Jean Nidetch
Our decisions do not only influence us but they impact those around us. Making the right choices advances opportunities and blessings for the people in our influence sphere.
3 Influencing Factors
There are three factors that mainly influence our decision making. Feeling, Faith and Facts. It is the order in which we apply them that determine this way, that way or the right way.
The Feeling Folks: They base their decisions mainly upon “it feels right” or “I have peace about it”. The danger lies in the fact that feelings can be deceiving.
The Faith Folks: They base their decision purely upon faith. Because they believe it, it has to be right. They say “I step out in faith” and when it crumbles “God has put me through a test”
The Fact Folks: They accumulate all the information and spend much time upon it before they make a decision. If the facts are equal in both directions they will at times offer it to someone else to help point out the direction.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death Pro. 14:23; 16:25
3 Guiding Lights
F.B. Meyer (1847-1929), a British preacher relayed the story of one of his travels at sea:
He was standing on the deck of the ship, wondering how the crew would safely steer it through the stormy waters into the harbour that night with such low visibility. He peered through the window and asked, “Captain, how do you know when to turn this ship into that narrow harbour?” “That’s and art,” replied the captain. “Do you see those three red lights on the shore? When they’re all in a straight line I go right in!”
God has given us the choice to eternal life with these three lights (influence factors) in the following order:
Facts - Faith - Feeling
First we are taught the facts about God, His love for us and the good news about His Son Jesus Christ through Whom we receive our salvation. Based upon that knowledge, we take a step in faith and choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Being saved brings us those feelings of joy and peace and we usually cannot wait to share the good news with others.
We need to turn to God for His direction. When we have those three lights in a straight line, we can make the right choice.
3 Steps in Making the Right Choice
Step 1: Facts - Gather all the facts, so that you can eliminate those options that are not reasonable. The truth sets us free. There are circumstances and events that we need to take into consideration, some of them are not under our control but they do signal warnings or changes ahead for us.
Step 2: Faith - Go to the Lord with your options and facts and ask for His guidance. He promised to direct our footsteps, to teach and guide us and follow us every step of the way.
Lay your own desires before Him and ask for His will rather than your will. Do not fear that He will direct you in a direction that will not be good for you. He wants to bless you.
If you are not sure which direction He is pointing you to, you can ask Him to close those doors/opportunities which is not of Him, and to open the door/opportunity He wants you to take.
In faith know that He will not leave you in the dark but will shine His light for you in the direction you must go.
Step 3: Feeling - When we make the right choice, we experience that inner witness and peace that we receive from the Holy Spirit. This peace is a witness to what we know and the direction the Lord has pointed us.
If you have unrest in your spirit, go back to Lord and confirm the direction you need to take.
F.B. Meyer later said: “When we want to know God’s will, there are three things which always occur: the inward impulse, the Word of God, and the trend of circumstances….Never act until these three things agree.”
May you be blessed and choose well!
Wilhelmien
Tags: choose, choose right, difficult choices, how to choose well, making the right choices, right choice
November 7th, 2008 at 11:36 am
How to choose well with feelings, faith and facts? You hit feelings already that “they can be deceiving”. Do you have a minute? Because I have a story to share about feelings if you have the time.
Have you ever heard God speak to you? Well I have! How do I know it was God? Good question. I really wasn’t sure at the time but, I listened and obeyed just in case.
Here’s the true story. I was a carpenter when this happened and went to a friends home for a prayer meeting. Now, he was a carpenter also but unemployed at the time. While we were praying the Lord said to me to give him (my friend) fifty bucks. Well at the time I had a hundred in my pocket so, when I left his house I palmed fifty dollars and shook his hand. Now he wasn’t expecting it and it fell to the ground. And he said you lost something and I replied no I didn’t and left. Now on the way home I knew in my heart I heard and did the right thing but, there was a deceiving feeling telling me I just flushed fifty bucks down the drain. I had to laugh if off because I heard what I heard and knew my family was going to be taken care of either way. Within a month I did a job for someone that paid me five thousand dollars. I call that a hundred fold return. I all most wish God had ask for all I had in my pocket but, He didn’t because He knew where my faith was at the time.
Here’s what I learned from that. If you hear from God and He asks you to do something it won’t cost you anything if you have faith enough to do it and that’s where the hundred fold return comes in.
Oh, I could go on and on about feelings but I know you don’t have all day to listen to me ramble. But before I share my story about faith and facts I would like to thank the web master of this web site Clarion Call Ministries for giving me and you the opportunity to share our thoughts and experiences.
Did you know facts actually change? It’s True! How do I know? You ask?
Because It Is Written in the Bible. For one it is impossible for God to lie! Look it up. It’s in there. If He would come to you on a Monday morning and say “it’s a lovely Wednesday isn’t it”. It WOULD BE Wednesday. If He could move the clock back an hour for King Hezekiak he can move days also.
About 1971 when I was around thirteen the doctors sent me home to die. They told my parents that there was nothing that they could do for me. Just take him home and make him as comfortable as possible. THAT WAS A FACT. But my Bible said by Jesus stripes I was healed and THAT WAS TRUTH! Now I could have believed the facts but, I chose the TRUTH instead and that’s where faith kicks in.
Now faith can and will work for you or against you. As a man thinketh so is he. My story is I chose to believe God that can not lie over men that just don’t know any better. Not that were lying but they were just used to facts instead of faith in the truth.
Let me leave you with one last thought. Don’t be shy and share your comments and thoughts and share this site with your friends also.
Listen: Have you ever built a web site? I have and it’s not exactly easy the first one or two any way. These folks at Clarion Call Ministries are not asking for your money just your comments and moral support. I for one want to give mine and these fine folks don’t know me from Adam. YET.
I have a feeling we will be GOOD friends before Jesus comes back. If not I’ll see em on the other side. There’s no down side either way!