Decisions. 
Should I….OR….Should I not?
Would it be best if I go….OR…..Would it be best if I don’t?
How can we ever know the right decision we should make?  &  
How can we ever know if the decision we have made, if it was the RIGHT DECISION to make?
Here is what we do know—-Our decisions are the correct decisions—–ONLY when we pause to bathe the decision in prayer—&—ONLY when we pause to talk with God and to listen to Him speak. That is when we know God will lead our decision-making, and that is when God will guide our path, and that is when He will reveal the correct way (His way) that we should go.

BUT…..WHAT ABOUT WHEN……….

YES, MOST USUALLY THERE IS A “BUT” & “WHEN.”

BUT……What about in those times when we do not seek God?
BUT……What about those times when we just want to do our own thing, despite the leading of God’s Holy Spirit?
BUT……What about those times when we know the way God is leading us, BUT we run, we go, we move the OTHER WAY, in the completely OPPOSITE DIRECTION?!!!

My mom is a smart girl.  Maybe your mom is also a smart girl. (They would smile at the way we call them “girls.”)  
Are they smart because they have lived many years?
Are they smart because they are girls?
NO……Even if your mom is a godly woman (as my mom), and even if your mom is a prayer warrior (as my mom), and even if your mom is a believer who strives to please God (as my mom)…..Then we would agree that it is NOT their years of life OR the fact that they are female, that causes them to be wise.
They are wise because of WHO they have chosen to follow, because of WHO they walk with throughout their lives.

YES…..They are wise because they believe in God; they are wise because it is Jesus Christ WHO leads their decision-making; & they are wise because they allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead them as they journey throughout their daily lives.
Let’s be clear.   Making a decision is a HUGE endeavor, especially whenever the decision being made affects our future.

• 1.  SOMEONE DECIDES TO—-Seek more education, to possibly seek another career (when everyone looking in from the outside may wonder why).  I reacquainted with a girl, a mom, yesterday—with Pam—who was doing just that—Taking College Courses, even though the courses she must take are so hard. They require that she rely upon God.
• 2.  SOMEONE DECIDES TO—-Leave the security of a career, one she is good at to remain at home and begin a multi-million dollar business with her husband (when everyone looking in from the outside, may wonder why). I saw a girl, a mom, a few years ago chose this path—with Jill—who was doing just that—Starting A New Business With Her Husband & Three Boys, even though to the world her decision must have taken such courage.
• 3.  SOMEONE DECIDES TO—-Take a chance on love again, to remarry a man she knew from high school, maybe a first love (when everyone looking in from the outside may wonder why).  I know two girls, two moms, at different life moments—with Mischele & with Kim—who were doing just that—Taking A Chance On Love, even though to the world their decision required such boldness and trust.
• 4. SOMEONE DECIDES TO—-Acknowledge that even though she thought for years she was a Christian, make a decision to follow Christ, when she realized she was NOT SAVED. She talked with God; She confessed her unbelief and her sins against God; and she received God’s Salvation. She then shared it with the church congregation (even when, to everyone looking in from the outside, she already “looked” saved). I saw a girl, a mom, back in the early 80s–with My Mom—do just that—Taking A Step of Bravery to Tell the World She Was Truly Now A Believer & Follower of Christ.

• Rely Upon & Trust God.
• Be Courageous & Trust God.
• Be Bold & Trust God.
• Be Brave & Trust God.

Decision-making Is So Important & A Process that should never be made haphazardly.  When my mom made a decision in 1981, one that totally altered her entire life, her decision was uncomfortable because it required that she face the present truth, and make a current decision to follow Christ (even when she thought she had already made that decision such a long time ago). She was in her 40s! How could she have been so wrong!   Her decision was so difficult because it forced her to step back and really look at the truth about herself.

However, mom’s decision was also so easy because she now knew that had she remained without God’s Salvation through Jesus, her soul was totally doomed for an eternal separation from God in Hell.

Mom made the only decision that made any sense—-Turn From Sin & Darkness & Hell——Turn Toward God & Salvation & Heaven.

The Bible is filled with people who lived, and because their lives are the true narratives that God chose to fill His Holy Scripture, God provides us a way to read His Word, to see real people who lived before us, to learn from their successful walks with God, to even see the times they ran away from the places God was leading them to go.
Jonah was such a person—an example of a man who was faced with a decision, a man who reacted totally against God’s leading, and a man who realized (thankfully, before it was too late) that he should make a different decision…..the decision God was leading him to make.
God wants to lead our lives.
God wants to know us intimately, more intimately than any other person we know.
Yes, our personal relationship with our Savior is just that…..personal, treasured and protected.   YET, even though it is personal, still God desires that our choice to walk with His Son (Jesus), to accept His Salvation (God’s) is one shared with others in the way they see how His Holy Spirit (God’s) leads our lives.
In the Bible, we see how Jonah was led by God, and we see how Jonah ran away from God.

“The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.   So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD”  (Jonah 1: 1-3).

Turn Away From A Wrong Choice & Turn Toward God & Trust God.
Stop Relying Upon Ourselves & Turn Toward God’s Leading & Trust God.
Don’t Be Brave Within Our Own Might & Turn Toward God’s Power, Be Courageous, Be Bold & Trust God.

• DECISIONS ARE SO HUGE!
• DECISIONS CAN BE SUPER HARD TO MAKE.
• DECISIONS HAVE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES. 
• DECISIONS SHOULD ONLY BE MADE AS GOD LEADS US.

SO, THE DECISION TO ACCEPT THE LOVE AND SALVATION OFFERED TO US (INDIVIDUALLY) THROUGH THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST UPON THE CROSS—-THAT DECISION IS PARAMOUNT!!!
Today can be the day of our most important decision YET!
Seek God today.
Call upon Him.
God will hear our cry  &  God will save our soul.