"Decision Making Made Easier"

by WXAN & KMHM General Manager, Doug Apple

Are you making hard decisions in your life?  Instead of black and white, does everything seem muddled in gray?  Do you ever feel like you are choosing between the lesser of two evils?

Decisions are made even more challenging when we realize that each decision is a fork in the road that will effect us both now and in the future.  That is why sometimes we simply cry out to God, “Please, make it simple!”  Here is a prayer I’ve prayed:  “God, please just give me ONE choice so I’m sure to get it right.”

There is good news, though.  The Bible tells us how to make decision-making easier.  There is one thing that, if we do it, God says He will straighten out the path ahead of us.  Instead of a mysterious fork in the road we will see a straight road.  What appeared to be a fork in the road quickly becomes an exit ramp that we do not want to take.

God’s will becomes more self-evident, more obvious when we do this one thing.  What is it?  Read Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

What is God’s part?  He will make our paths straight.  We do not need to concern ourselves with God’s part.  He WILL make our paths straight.  He WILL direct our paths.

 So what DO we need to concern ourselves with?  Our part!  And what is our part?  “Acknowledge Him in all our ways.”

 So here is the big question:  are we acknowledging him in all our ways?  And just what does “acknowledge” mean, anyway? 

Well, it’s not just “doffing our cap” to God.  One meaning of acknowledge is “to admit knowledge of or agreement with.” 

So how would we “admit knowledge” of God in all of our ways?  Let me ask you this.  Does everyone know you are a Christian?  Don’t be ashamed to be known as a Christian.  In all of our ways we need to admit knowledge of God:  our job, our homes, our families, clothes, vehicles, music, books, conversations, social lives…in all of these we must admit knowledge of God.

It will be very difficult to find God’s will in our lives, for Him to make our paths straight, if we are undercover Christians.  Because in that case we are not doing our part, we are not acknowledging Him in all of our ways.

Another meaning of acknowledge is to “admit agreement with.”  So, how do we admit agreement with God in all of our ways?  First of all we must find out what God says in order to agree with it.  Then we must conform ourselves to His ways.  God wants us all to be “yes” men.  We need to find God’s straight lines and line up with them.  We must look for areas where our lives are off the straight and narrow and get them back on.

Acknowledge also means “to recognize the rights of.”  How do we recognize the rights of God in all of our ways?  What are His “rights” in our lives?  Well, He created us!  He owns us.  He redeemed us.  In every way we are His, so in that essence He has all rights to our lives.  He may choose to do whatever He pleases with us.  We need to acknowledge this.  God has the right to intrude in any area of our lives.

Another meaning of acknowledge is “to express gratitude or obligation for.”  This means we need to be thankful to God in all our ways, and to let it show.  This can be as simple as the old-fashioned public prayer of thanks for our food.  It can be as grand as a ballplayer thanking “my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” on national television after winning the big game.  It’s not just for Thanksgiving Day.  It’s for all our ways.

In conclusion, remember this:  God will do His part.  He just asks us to do our part.  And when we have a tough decision to make, when we seem to be at a fork in the road, what is our part?  One thing we must do is acknowledge God in all of our ways.