Decision Making

Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies– Psalm 27:11

This is the first and vital priority in making any decision: is it God’s will, is it God’s way?

The decisions God prompts us to make will always be in complete agreement with his perfect Word, the Bible. God never leads anyone to live or act contrary to his Word, because his Word is his way for us.

The psalmist prays to be lead in a plain path. This is the only kind of guidance that would do any of us any good, isn’t it? If we were required to make decisions according to wisdom we don’t have, futures we cannot see, or knowledge that is not ours then we would be doomed to failure.

But a plain path means a path that we can understand, that we can see, that we are able to follow.

Finally, the psalmist asks for plain direction because of his enemies. If you do not recognize that you are facing enemies in every decision you make—small and great—then you are deeply ignorant of the reality of this world.

You have enemy desires in your own heart that are spawned from selfish lust and pride and envy. You have enemies in the spiritual world that seek to draw you away from the path of godliness by any means necessary. Your worst enemies in a particular decision may even be well-meaning friends or family members whose priorities for you are not eternal or God-centered.

How appropriate, then, for us all to pray for God’s way to be made plain, in spite of the many enemies we surely will face in the way of Christian living.