Five Minute Friday - Decide

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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.

hard to decide

who decides?

deciding vote

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My husband often teases me about being indecisive. Usually when we are trying to decide which restaurant to go to. Well, there's an awful lot of restaurants to choose from, and so many that I like, and almost any restaurant on the list would be fine! Why can't he decide? 

The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best. ~Thomas Sowell

Sometimes we solve this dilemma by having one of us narrow the choices to just two or three, and the other one chooses one of those options.

We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork, you must make a decision. ~C.S. Lewis

I believe this is what is sometimes called Decision Paralysis. Not being able to make a choice because there seem to be too many options and you get overwhelmed, or being too afraid of making the wrong choice that you don't decide at all. Either way, decision paralysis means you don't move forward. You're stuck. When the choice is "which restaurant shall we go to?" and you stall out because there are too many options, it might mean it's a very late dinner by the time the decision is made and at least one person has been frustrated and maybe even hangry by the time the food is on the table. Or it might mean you don't go out at all but wind up finding leftovers or a bowl of cereal at home. Not earth-shattering consequences.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. ~Neil Peart

But sometimes big life decisions can paralyze us too, and the stakes are higher. Trying to decide which college is best. Deciding which job to pursue, which church to attend, which car to buy, whether to buy a house or keep renting. (Those last two are decisions we'll be needing to make.) 

I wish I had a magic formula to pass along that was a guaranteed rule for always making the best decision. I don't. All I can do is make a few suggestions of things to consider when weighing the options, and reassure you that the Holy Spirit does help you when you ask. Get in the habit of praying about hard decisions and digging into God's Word to learn wisdom about how he wants you to live. Sometimes you can eliminate certain options just because you know they wouldn't meet the standards for holy living. Sometimes you can get wise perspective and advice from godly people who know you well. And honestly? Sometimes when it's decision time and you've prayed and considered carefully, you just need to make a decision based on the information you have, trusting that God will keep his promise to be with you no matter what.

The most important decision you can ever make is to follow Jesus. The right choice is obvious, even though it may not be easy. But making that right decision will never disappoint you, and you will always have God's Word and Presence to help you make right decisions from that point on. 

". . . then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

~Joshua 24:15~

Who are those who fear the LORD?

He will show them the path they should choose.

~Psalm 25:12~

The lot is cast into the lap,

but its every decision is from the LORD.

~Proverbs 16:33~

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. ~J.R.R. Tolkien

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A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing, but who, as a group, can meet and decide that nothing can be done. ~Fred Allen

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This post is linked at Five Minute Friday for the word prompt "Decide".

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