Consulting God first is the antidote to regrettable decisions

Life is full of confusion. How we navigate through alternative options and life choices is always difficult for many of us as Christians. There were some decisions that I personally made in the past that I now regret deeply. I strongly believe that I am not alone in this.

Consulting God on whatever decision we want to make is very important if we want to live according to the will of God.

Most often, what we want to do and follow is always in conflict with what God wants. Relying absolutely on our psyche and feelings is not good enough. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Many Christians have stepped into trouble searching for jobs, spouses, business partners, and spiritual help, by following their hearts. The effect of wrong decisions is always devastating and most often unavoidable without divine help. We have a helper in the person of the Holy Spirit whom God has sent to us to ensure that we do not make wrong decisions.

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future” (John 16:13). The truth is that many of us make important decisions without consulting the omniscient and the omnipotent God. It is only when they backfire that we remember that consulting God is essential. We complain when we find it difficult to drag Him into our human-orchestrated plans and agenda, and it’s absolutely wrong.

Even in the midst of provocation and trauma, we should be careful not to act out of irritability. Experience has proven that decisions taken in anger are always regrettable. When the Amalekites invaded Ziklag and burned down everywhere and took women and children hostage, David who was the commander in chief of the armed forces was devastated. Scripture says that he cried until there was no strength in him. David did not make the decision to go after the Amalekites in anger. He consulted God, first and foremost. “So David inquired of the LORD, saying, ‘Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?’ And He answered him, ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all’” (1 Samuel 30:8).

God went with David and his foot soldiers, and they succeeded in recovering all. He would have gone after the Amalekites without consulting with God, but he knew the devastating consequences of embarking on any project without God’s approval. Nothing gives confidence to a believer like knowing that you are in the will of God. It helps you to remain steadfast even in the midst of terrible obstacles.

Acting without recourse to God’s will draws us back and gets us in trouble. Moses, unlike David, looked at his surroundings and the circumstances and acted on impulse. “Moses grew up. One day he went and saw his brothers, saw all that hard labor. Then he saw an Egyptian hit a Hebrew — one of his relatives! He looked this way and then that; when he realized there was no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand” (Exodus 2:11-12). He looked horizontally left and right but did not realize to vertically look up to Heaven before making his decision. He was anointed as a deliverer to the Israelites, but he acted not according to God’s timing, and that took him into the wilderness for 40 years where God taught him how to rely on Him absolutely.

He learned his lessons so well that even when God eventually commissioned him to go and confront Pharaoh to let Israel go, he did not want to make a step without God. “The LORD replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?’” (Exodus 33:14-16).

Let us learn not to do a thing without first seeking the face of God who knows the end from the beginning.