How to Make Big Decisions

My wife and I lead a Wednesday night Prayer Call with many people over the phone. One of the most frequent prayer requests has been, "I have a big decision to make. Please pray I do the right thing."

Along those lines, the most important thing you will need to learn as a Christian is how to discern God's will for your life. Apostle Paul said, "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is" (Eph. 5:17).

So how do we make big decisions that please God? I would suggest you run your decisions through four things.

1) God's Word
The Scripture is our number one guide in life. Again, Apostle Paul said in 2 Tim. 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." This training in "righteousness" is the ability to do the right things. And the Bible helps us in that.

In fact, the Bible gives us plain instructions on a lot of areas in life.
How we should steward our money.
How we can be a good husband or wife.
How we should raise our kids.

We just need to put in the work to discover God's direction.

2) God's Holy Spirit
Jesus taught us that one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all "truth" (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is our guide.

I have learned that typically Holy Spirit confirmation on a direction comes more through a conviction than overwhelming peace about your decision. What is a conviction? It's like knowing that you know that you know deep in your soul what to do.

You will not always have full peace about a situation because often God calls us to do things in the face of fear and doubt. When we purchased our Paramount Campus some years ago. I had a conviction that God wanted us to do it. But I did it shaking in my boots because I had never dealt with millions of dollars before. But God saw us through.

3) God's Leaders
Proverbs teaches us that wisdom comes through a multitude of counsellors. In fact, Proverbs 11:14 says, "For lack of guidance a matter falls but victory is won through many advisers."

God uses His leaders to confirm direction in the lives of His followers. I would suggest to you that before you make your big decision, run it through three trusted wise leaders and evaluate their initial responses. If all three of them say it's a bad idea, that's probably God speaking to you.

4) Your Reality
Many Christians mistakenly ignore their current reality in the name of faith. But God also speaks through situations and circumstances. We can't ignore negative circumstances but learn from them.

There is a big theological word called, "providence." Providence is God orchestrating situations and circumstances to perform His will. We see providence working in the life of Joseph in Genesis and in the life of Mary and Joseph in the Gospels when they brought the Baby Jesus to Bethlehem.

What is God trying to say to you through your current reality?

If you want to hear Pastor Brian teach on this same message, watch HERE.