What Does God Say About Making Decisions?
When it comes to walking by faith, there’s one question I’ve grappled with more than any other: What does God say about making decisions?
I want to follow God and honor him with my choices. Yet, at times, I’ve struggled to find his direction.
The summer after my junior year of college, I found a job working in a deli thousands of miles from my home in Pennsylvania. For three months, I lived outside Denali National Park, Alaska. In some ways, I was running from the life I’d created for myself at home. On a different level, I was searching for direction from God.
I invite you to return with me to that summer, and we’ll talk about finding direction from God.
What Does God Say About Making Decisions?
The still water shines like glass, and I find myself looking to the hills for help. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I remember something about help coming from the hills, and I’m desperate for help. This summer, I’m struggling with how to make an important decision.
I’ve reached a crossroads in life, and I’m not sure which road to take.
I came to Alaska to find answers about my career, myself, and mostly about God. I don’t know it yet, but he will graciously provide answers to all three of these questions.
A fish jumps, casting tiny circles that ripple the whole way to the shore.
How to Make Important Decisions with God’s Help
I’m praying about whether to leave my home in Pennsylvania to pursue a teaching career in Alaska, wondering whether this summer job at the deli will be my final stay in Interior Alaska.
I love the endless mountains, the sense of adventure, and the constant daylight of the Alaskan summer. But I miss my family, my friends, and the hayfields of Plain Grove.
I open my Bible for the first time since arriving in the land of the midnight sun. Opening it has felt like a chore lately. I believe God let me down, and I’m offended. But I still believe he’s here, so I open it and start reading in the book of Galatians.
A single verse catches my eye: “. . . the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).
As I sit with the words, I feel the freedom to choose. I can move to Alaska to teach, or I can search for a job in Pennsylvania. What matters most is that I live a life of faith expressing itself through love. I will do my best to make a decision based on love, weigh my options, and make the best decision I know how to make.
What Does God Say About Making Decisions When He Seems Silent?
I gaze up at the mountains surrounding the quiet lake, and I know the answer.
In the deepest part of me, I don’t want to relocate to a place where the sun won’t shine in the winter months. I want to love God well and serve him closer to home. Should I get married and have a family, I want that to happen close to my family.
I love the mountains and the freedom of this lifestyle, but the costs outweigh the rewards. The voice of love seems to nudge me to return home. 
A few weeks later, I leave Alaska with tears. Saying goodbye is tough, but I have confidence in my decision.
What Does God Say About Making Decisions and Finding Clarity
I used to labor long and hard in search of “clarity” from God. Pressing into God is important, but there’s a fine line between pursuing his heart and making “clarity” an idol.
I’m learning that when I’m struggling with decisions, God often calls me to simply make the best, wisest decision I know how to make at the time, always assuring it is rooted in love.
I'm learning that when I'm struggling with how to make decisions, God often calls me to make the best, wisest decision I know how to make at the time, always assuring it is rooted in love. Share on XWhile God has a plan and purpose for each of his children, sometimes we get caught up on hearing him just right and executing the details of our lives perfectly. Meanwhile, God is capable of correcting our missteps.
How to Make Important Decisions when the Next Step is Unclear
Maybe you’ve been trying to hear from God about a decision you need to make. If so, let’s explore a few ways God speaks to us:
1. God’s guidance often comes from other people.
God often uses other people to speak to us—especially those who are older and wiser.
Do you need God’s guidance?
Find someone who has been walking with God for a long time and seek advice. God often speaks to us through others.
I’ve also learned to pay attention to the words spoken by the people who know me best. My family members and close friends know me well and can often offer wisdom as I make decisions.
God can also speak through single statements woven into conversations. Throughout the past months, he has healed me, directed me, and called me closer to himself through simple statements made by friends.
Has a life-giving moment from a conversation ever jumped out at you as if it were spoken directly to your heart?
When this happens, it’s often God’s way of speaking to us.
2. God speaks through Spirit-inspired longings and desires.
As I sat beside the lake in Alaska, I realized I was putting too much pressure on myself to hear God’s voice flawlessly. I was confused because God wasn’t speaking through a gentle whisper.
Instead, God spoke through Spirit-inspired longings in my heart.
He showed me that I wanted to live near my family and friends. He showed me that the climate of Alaskan winters would be difficult for me.
We need to be careful about relying on our desires and longings to discern God’s direction. Our emotions can lead us astray. However, we should not entirely ignore our longings. At times, God speaks through the longings of our hearts. (Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4, NIV).
3. We hear God’s voice in the Bible and through prayer.
God wants to direct us through a loving relationship.
Following God is never a formula. This is why he speaks in different ways at different times.
By reading the Bible daily, we grow in our relationship with God. This relationship can direct our lives. We learn about his character through his written Word.
He gently directs us when his Word speaks to our hearts and shapes us to look more like him. God will never guide us in directions that oppose the teachings of the Bible. For this reason, it is important to know what the Bible says.
God also wants us to seek him in prayer. During these times, we tell God how we’re feeling and talk to him; we also listen for his voice. God often speaks to us during times of prayer by a deep sense of “knowing” what we need to do.
4. God’s guidance often comes through circumstances.
God has a plan and purpose for each of his children.
We often get caught up in hearing him just right and executing the details of our lives perfectly. We forget that he is a good Father who will gently redirect our missteps. He often does this by opening doors of opportunity and aligning circumstances.
Most often, God guides my life through circumstances.
He opens the right doors and closes the wrong ones.
We can trust that when we earnestly want to follow him, God will lead us. He often leads us by orchestrating our circumstances so that we cannot miss his plans for us.
What Does God Say About Making Decisions? God Wants to Guide His Children
God wants to guide and direct you, too.
Best of all, you don’t have to worry about making the perfect decision or never making a mistake.
I have learned that when I step off of God’s best path for my life, he always gently redirects me back onto the right path.
Make the best, wisest, most love-grounded decisions you can. Trust that God will lead you and help you.
Someday I hope to return to Alaska. I think I’ll sit along that mountain lake and thank God that he never asked me to make perfect decisions; his heart’s desire was that I would pursue him with my whole heart. As I sought him, the details of my life quickly began to fall into place.
A Free Devotional for You as You Seek God’s Guidance
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Calling all moms and daughters—and parents of boys!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 14, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or grandparents to read with the children they care about.
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength is for boys ages 5-13. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to courageously carry God’s love into the world. Written with input from our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven, this book will help the boys you care about find courage and strength in God. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Devotionals for Girls
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
All three books are available in print and eBook form here on Amazon. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
