God and Decision Making

I recently had some thoughts about God's role in decision-making. I was seeking the Lord about a decision and started to think about what I was seeking. I realized that I was looking to God for guidance because He knew the right way to go. He could see all the different factors of the decision. He also could see the future and how a decision would turn out. So I was looking for Him to show me the right path.

And I realized that I was "listening" for that direction. I say "listening" because, alas, God was not speaking directly. So I was looking for His indirect guidance through circumstances and developments, trying to discern which way He was indicating I should decide. I wanted to "listen" well so that I would be on the right path that would lead to the best outcome for me and for others who would be impacted by this decision.

And while I was realizing all this, I thought of God saying, "What if I am not playing the guiding role that you are seeking? What if I do not have a right decision that I am leading you to in an indirect way? What if the decision really is yours and not mine? What if that is the way that I want it?"

Well, if that is the case, then I should stop trying to discern how God is leading me….. stop trying to find clues toward the right decision in various circumstances and developments. What should I do instead? Focus on what I want and what seems to me to be the best decision. I still want God involved in the decision (I still want Him to tell me what to do!). So I could ask Him to help me to sort out my own thoughts and feelings and help me to arrive at the best decision. But this would be more about determining what seems good to me than it would be about discerning how He is guiding me to a particular choice.

How did I feel about this line of thinking? First I wondered if it was Biblically sound or not. And I thought about Paul making decisions about where to go in his ministry travels. This would definitely be a decision that I would want the Lord to direct. After all, it is His mission Paul is on. But most of the time, Paul was making these really important decisions by discerning what he thought would be best. Occasionally God did direct him, like in Acts 16 where there is language of having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go into Bithynia. It does not say how this was communicated to them, but it does say that Paul was directed to go to Macedonia by a vision in the night of a man saying "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

What strikes me about this guidance from God is how direct it is. Paul did not need to "listen" to the circumstances or developments to discern this direction. It was clear and obvious. Is there anywhere in Scripture where we see Paul doing that type of "listening" for God's guidance? And is there any place in Scripture that we are directed to seek God's guidance through that type of "listening"? Or would Paul be saying to me, "Why are you trying to discern the direction of the Lord through circumstances like that? Are you seeking something He is not providing? If He does want to guide you to a particular choice, He can do it in ways that are clear and obvious."

How does this blog impact how you relate to God in your decision making at work? I can imagine that you would want God's guidance so that your decisions would be successful, since making right decisions are a really important part of your work. So what is your reaction to these thoughts? Frustration? Freedom?