Choose Wisely By Choosing Righteously, With God’s Direction

Word-of-the-Day: ‘<The Lord said to the Israelites, via Isaiah,> Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a Voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”’ (Isaiah 30:21); ‘(5) Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.’ (Proverbs 3:5-6)

That great theological group of my youth, Rush, have many songs where a line or two stick out in immediate memory.  One such line is, ‘If choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.’  It is a true statement; if I am given the opportunity to choose where to go for lunch with members within our fellowship circle after Sunday services, and I instead say, ‘I don’t know, where do you all want to go?’, I am choosing, through my lack of providing a choice, what the mob decides.  (Mob may not be the best word choice for a group gathered in Christian fellowship, but there it is.)

Part of choosing that path is that I trust those who we lunch with that they won’t choose some eatery that I am not going to find something to chow down on.  Most people choose common chain restaurants that have a good selection of food that is not expensive or too esoteric for the average taste buds, and almost all chains have their variation on a cheeseburger and fries, even if their main signature choices are not what I would typically consider.

While lunch may not need critical thinking or choices in order to satiate one’s hunger, other choices we make have a far-reaching and longer-lasting effect on our lives.  It is never a good option to make the ‘I don’t know, you decide’ choice when it is time to consider choosing a spouse or where you want to live, or the house that you will be moving into.  While choosing a place to eat lunch may not always be taken up in prayer (though we should ask Him for guidance in all decisions, big or small), other life choices are better when we involve the Lord to direct our way.

Obviously, you would want to have a say who you want to spend the rest of your life with, especially in Western society and culture.  Choosing a spouse, for the Christian, should come with the understanding this choice is a lifelong commitment, so it must be clear that both the prospective husband and wife are compatible, have at least some common interests, and love one another.  That choice should not be made in accordance to how the secular worldview portrays the decision, that the couple should live together prior to marriage.  Instead, it should be based on prayer, and asking God if and how to proceed, then marry if God leads the two to become one.

Where to live or deciding on a domicile also must come from not only careful consideration on various factors and family needs (work or retirement location, any requirement to be close to medical facilities or shopping, preferences in living in either an urban, suburban, or rural setting, etc.), but also the understanding of the financial implications (mortgage or rent) and if the location is conducive to your worship of God (is a Bible-based, Christ-centered church within a distance you find comfortable in commuting to on a regular basis).  This is also something that prayer in asking the Lord for His guidance to steer you to the right place is very important.

As we approach the mid-term elections, as several states like Florida have yet to hold the primary party elections, we often do not go to the Lord to help us choose who we vote for.  This is a by-product of the secular mantra we’ve had repeated to us for many years, namely, ‘keep religion out of politics.  This is not proper advice, however.  God places those in charge who we decide upon, and those who we choose to lead us are those who we deserve their outcomes. 

We should always pray for the Spirit to guide us in our choices, who represents God and His values the best.  Again, choosing not to vote is an apathetic choice, as the unfortunate truth is the majority of people are not necessarily Christian, even though they may identify as one.  This voter apathy often leads to a poor candidate winning the office they threw their hat into the ring for, one whose agenda is for the pursuit of secular values, not Christian.

God allows us to elect people into office who we desire, as they are also the leaders we need.  That need may not always be for our pleasure, but our correction.  We see in several American big cities, where the mayors who were elected, some in elections where only a small percentage of voters turned out, are leading their cities and its citizens into ruin.  Those who did vote where among the majority that did not care what God preferred, but what they preferred.  God does not bless those who choose their leaders poorly, without Godly attributes.

The proper course of action, as in all of our decisions to be made, is to involve God.  Sometimes we may need to choose instantly, and it is proper to go to the Lord after the choice to provide Him the opportunity to ‘course correct’ our path.  In all of our choices, He will lead us to the outcome best suited for us, to either be blessed or to receive correction.

The Lord wants His people to be blessed, and one way we can receive those blessings is to follow His path on who He has for us and the location He wants us in.  Tap into His plan for us by prayer and studying His Word, and take time to listen for His Voice.