Decision Makers
There are people who make big decisions constantly throughout the day. The leaders of our country make decisions every day and they often affect a large number of people. I love our country even though I’m not always in agreement with some who lead; they are still my fellow citizens. There are other people who make decisions for our state, our county and our city. At these levels we the people often have an audience with the leaders. There are decision makers in business who study spreadsheets and data. Sometimes making decisions is really easy and sometimes it’s really difficult. There are times when the funding is short for a project and there are financial cuts that have to made – it is not a fun situation for the decision makers.
King Jehoshaphat appointed judges throughout the land and gave them a strong charge about decision-making. Check this out…
5 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. 6 He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. 7 Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” (2 Chronicles 19:5-7 NIV)
I was impressed with this charge. He was basically reminding the people he appointed judge over others that it really wasn’t about them. It was really about them serving the Lord. He was also reminding them to not be coerced into a particular decision.
While some decisions are based on fact, some decisions are based in intuition and experience. I’ve made good decisions based on bad data and I’ve made bad decisions based on good data. The odds are certainly in my favor if I have good data and good insight to the ramifications surrounding a decision.
I made a decision many years ago to follow the Lord. I don’t think for a second that it was a one-time decision. I believe that following the Lord is a daily decision. There are certainly many options available to NOT follow Him. The longer I follow Him, the easier it is to know His heart and His will for a particular decision. I can talk to Him about the most trivial decision and the most profound decision and He gives wisdom and direction. His Spirit in me settles my soul and gives great clarity to any decision I face.
Pressing On!
Dwayne