Making The Right Choices Series

Making the Right Choices

How to Deal With Indecision

Today we are continuing our series Stressbusters. We are going through the 23rd Psalm and looking at seven ways we can relieve stress in our lives. We have already looked at how to deal worry, how to deal with busyness and how to deal with damaged emotions. Today we are going to looking at how to deal with indecision. Indecision can cause us stress. Let’s see what Psalm 23:3 says:

He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Psalms 23:3 (NKJV)

Making the right choices in life – determines how your life goes. In fact life is a series of choices. If you make dumb decisions you fail in life. The choices we make – make us. Every choice we make has a consequence. And because of that – making the right choices can be very stressful. Yet we have more choices now then ever before.

Today we can now buy everything we want on the internet. From fruit trees to furniture. From tea to tuxedos. We can now watch over 100 channels on our televisions sets. We can travel to any place in the world if we just have enough time or money. We can choose our political leaders or choose not to vote. You can choose from dozens of restaurants where to have lunch or dinner. You can choose from halibut to hamburgers. Choice is a part of our lives and its here to stay.

Making choices can be very stressful. Should I hold on or should I let go? Should I get in or should I get out? Should I stay or should I move? When you can’t make up your mind it’s like being bounced around like a pinball in a pinball machine. Listen to what James says about indecision:

6 …he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind….8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6, 8 (NKJV)

The Greek word for unstable literally means “stagger like a drunk.” When you can’t make up your mind – you’re going to stagger through life. The antidote for indecision is to let God guide you. The Good Shepherd not only feeds – He leads. He not only provides – He guides. He not only protects – He directs. God is the one who will keep you on track in life. God is the one who will show you which way to go. Some of you are going to say, “Pastor Tom, I’ve tried to find God’s will for my life, but it just does not work.”

A big problem is that we don’t understand how God reveals His will.

Some people take a emotional approach to finding God’s will. They want to be swept off their feet by some emotion. They want a quiver in their liver. They want some type of goose bump experience so they can say, “I know what God’s will is for my life.”

Others take a logical approach to finding God’s will. They want some type of formula to figure things out. Nine steps to being nifty. Apply the recipe and life will turn out right.

Some what a magical approach to God’s will. God will give them some fantastic sign. He’ll write something in the sky – send me an e-mail.

All of these approaches lead to frustration because they cause us to miss God’s will. God’s will is not a feeling, or a formula, or something to get frustrated about.

So how do you find God’s will? You build a relationship with God. How do you build a relationship with God? The Bible says to do four things:

1. Approach God humbly.

2. Ask God in faith.

3. Listen for God’s response.

4. Trust God.

1. APPROACH God humbly.

This is not as easy as it sounds. Especially for men. How many of you when you are lost want to stop and ask for directions? No – we don’t want to ask for directions. It’s not in our nature to ask for help. So we stumble and get confused. Sheep, by nature, tend to wander. They have a tendency to get lost. Look at what Isaiah 53 says:

We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him.

Isaiah 53:6 (MSG)

This is a real problem why you don’t know God’s will. We don’t want to ask for directions. We want to go our own way and we don’t see to well either. We have poor vision. Let me ask you how far can you see into the future? How many of you know just exactly what is going to happen tomorrow? We don’t even know what is going to happen this afternoon let alone what is going to happen tomorrow. The problem is because we don’t see that well into the future we tend to stumble. Proverbs 14 says: