There are a million content out there promoting the concept of self and independence, so there is no better time to talk about the critical decisions a Christian must never make without God.
Every day, we make choices, small and significant. But certain decisions carry so much weight that the way we handle them has the capacity to shift the entire course of our lives.
So, if you truly understand that God is your Source and the essence of your life, then He must be the one to clearly help you make each of these decisions for you. As a matter of fact, maturity in the Christian faith is defined by how dependent we become on God.
I get it. God gave us a brain and wants us to use it. But for these critical decisions, logic alone will never help you fulfill God’s perfect will in these areas.
You know why?
We are limited as humans, but God is not. So, here are critical decisions a Christian must never make without God.
The Decision of Who to Become
Yeah, not many people know that there comes a time in life when we get to consciously decide who we want to become. But it’s a critical decision we must all make if we ever want to amount to anything in life. Otherwise, life just… makes us anything it wants.
As a Christian, it’s totally unsafe to make the decision of who you become without God. In the same way, a piece of electronic device cannot determine what it would be used for. Only its manufacturer can make that decision.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 1:5
If you say you’re a child of God and believe He formed you from your mother’s womb, then He must be the one to determine who you become – He determines the purpose for your life.
In fact, you bet God already knew who you’d become before He created you. Don’t you think the best thing to do when the time comes for you to make that conscious decision would be to go to Him to simply ‘reveal’ His reason for creating you?
Because you know how risky it can be to try to ‘figure out’ what a gas stove is for instead of just going through the manufacturer’s manual for that stove, right?
When you eventually let God help you make the decision of who to become, it forms the foundation of the decision of what you do with every day, hour, and minute of your life.
In fact, it also determines the outcomes of other critical decisions in this post. Should you get this one wrong, you’ll need the grace of God to get the others right.
The Decision of Where to Live
You know what I believe?
Greener pasture isn’t in any location. Greener pasture is where God plants you. It is where He wants you to be at any given moment of your life.
But you know the sad thing? We often make the mistake of deciding where we think is best for us, then try to coerce God into agreeing with our decision and blessing it.
But that’s not the way things should be. With the specific location God instructs us to live in comes EVERYTHING we’ll need to prosper in His will in that place.
Consequently, living in a place God has not placed you can mean that you’re leaving the provisions He’s made for you to try to struggle your way to prosperity somewhere else.
So, whenever you get to that point of deciding where to build your life, ensure that you aren’t doing it without God. Nothing would be better for your life than living in His perfect will for you.
The Decision of Who to Marry
Clearly, the decision of who to marry goes ahead to shape nearly every other aspect of your life immediately you say, ‘I do.’
If there’s any critical decision a Christian must never make without God, marriage should never be left out – no matter how trivial it appears.
As Christians, we get married for reasons beyond companionship and love. Those two are essential. But most importantly, marriage is a covenant, and we enter that covenant to fulfill our God-given purpose and raise children who do the same.
And if we are going to fulfill God’s purpose for marriage, we must do it with someone who is also bent on fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives. This person must also be someone God chooses for us.
I know. You’ve been told that God doesn’t have to choose a spouse for you. You can go that route if you will. However, I believe it is safer for God to do the choosing for you.
For one thing, you cannot know the heart and true intentions of another human being, but God does – He knows even what they do not know about themselves.
Best of all, when you allow God to decide who you marry, you can boldly turn to Him for help and guidance for the journey, especially when things try to go south.
The Decision of Where to Serve God
Don’t let the glamor on social media make you think you’re better off in a church or under a particular spiritual leadership simply because everything looks nice on the outside.
I once thought so, too. I thought I could simply uproot myself from a church where God had planted me just so I could attend a ‘better looking’ church where I could meet high achievers and high-profile people for benefits other than my spiritual growth.
But I was wrong. And I thank God I realized this before I made a mistake.
Your service to God is to God, not yourself, right? Then, I believe He is in the best position to say how and where you’d serve Him that would be acceptable.
Plus, when you read this blog and understand why we go to church, you’ll see that God is in the best place to tell you where to serve Him.
Don’t decide where you worship based on peripheral things like aesthetics, material wealth, or even career connections.
Let God plant you where He wills because that’s where what He has put in you will blossom beautifully, and you’ll be able to serve Him to His satisfaction.
The Decision of the Work to Do
This one can be pretty tricky. Because aren’t we all supposed to at least decide what we think is best for us to do as work?
There are bills to pay. So, shouldn’t we just go for the job we believe will put us in a better financial position?
Not really.
As Christians, our assignments and callings are more important to God than the size of our paychecks. And a fat paycheck may not always mean good for you.
So, why not let God, in His wisdom, help you decide the work you do so that you do not miss out on fulfilling His assignment for your life?
Conclusion
No matter how intelligent or well-equipped we become in life, we must remember to:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6.
While scripture recommends that we acknowledge God in everything, you now know there are critical decisions a Christian must never make without God.
You don’t want to be fighting battles God never included in your life or struggling to survive somewhere when God has already lavishly supplied all you’ll need for life and godliness somewhere else.
I hope you learn to trust that God wants the best for you and is in the best position to make these decisions for you.
Let me know if you think I missed any critical decision.
