Have you ever had a decision to make and wanted to make the right one? It is not always easy to make the right choice. We see wrong choices being made every day. Even in the scriptures, we see bad choice after bad choice. Lot chose the wrong place to live and lost his possessions, his wife, and his freedom. King David chose to commit adultery causing him to lose an infant son, his daughter to be molested by her half-brother, and a rebellion led by his own son.
All decisions can have blessings or curses. We need to make the right choices. Sometimes we make all the choices ourselves, but we should rely on godly counselors that God has placed in our lives. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.” But who can you trust?
God has given every one of us a set of parents. They have more experience in this life and will often be glad to share their wisdom. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. (Col 3:20) It is amazing how smart I became when my son went to college. Even in my forties, I consulted my dad for his opinions. However, parents are not the only ones God has in our life to consult.
For many of us, he has given us a spouse. Too seldom do we consult each other in decision making. The Bible tells us that we need to “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:21) This passage talks about our spouses. We might think that we rule the house and are to make all decision, but those decisions should be a joint effort.
God has also given us spiritual leaders. Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Heb 13:17) Your leaders want you to make wise decisions that will help you succeed and please God.
Another group of people from which we can seek help is experts. Attorneys, doctors, auto mechanics can give much better advice in their fields than the average person.
Probably the most important counsel that we receive is the peace of God. When we are guided by God, His peace is on the scene. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Col 3:15)
We may not like the counsel we get because we think it may hold us back. “My parent/boss/pastor doesn’t understand and is holding me back.” Statements like this are made all the time. What we soon forget is that they want us to succeed. They do not want us to be held back.
There is a story about a kite that loved to fly high. It would fly as high as it could possibly go, but it would always feel this tugging. It was the string. The kite thought that if the string would just let go than it could fly even higher. One day, the kite tried really hard to fly higher and higher. It kept pulling and pulling until the string finally broke. The kite thought that with the string now gone it would be able to fly higher. The problem, he found out, is that without the string, there was nothing to guide it. The kite would crash into the ground.
The moral of this story is: The thing that holds you back is the thing that holds you up.
