Mid-Week Message - Decisions, Decisions

I'm confused.  I have some life choices to make soon and I have been trying to sort out all the possibilities now even though I really don't have to yet.  As I look at all of my options, and there are many, my mind becomes more and more muddled.  I have been attempting to think beyond whatever choice I make to anticipate the ramifications of one selection over another.  At this point, I want to grab my head and scream for someone to make the decisions for me.  

I am an analyzer.  It is important to me to be as thorough as possible in considering every step I make. I am not always successful in avoiding difficulties, but it isn't for lack of trying. It is frustrating to run into snags after I have tried to be so careful. Perfection would be wonderful but I found out long ago that I am not perfect.  Still, I hold myself to a high level and am very disappointed if I fail to notice a flaw in my decision making.  

Scripture addresses how we should make plans.  James 4:13-17 has this to say, "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."  

In light of this teaching, I can see why I get myself so worked up.  I am trying to make the decisions on my own with my limited vision. God alone knows what will happen in the future.  No amount of analyzing or thinking things through can give me His vision. Proverbs 15:22 states, "Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed."  One thing I can do to alleviate stress is to seek wise, godly counsel.  This eliminates my dependence upon my own thinking and opens my heart and mind to new ways of looking at the decision.  The phrase, "been there, done that" is powerful.  If someone that I seek counsel from has already experienced what I am, they will be able to help avoid pitfalls that I possibly had not considered.  

Instead of spending so much time analyzing, I should be spending more time in prayer.  Because only the Lord knows for sure how my decisions will impact my life, He is the one that I need to ask for help.  Even in seeking counsel I need to follow His lead.  He has plans for me that I know not of.  He sees the full picture. Proverbs 3:5-6 is so encouraging!  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."  What a wonderful promise!  Trust in the Lord and He will make straight my path.  He is ultimately the One who will lead me in the way I need to go.  My energy is always better spent in time with Him.