Decision-making has always been a struggle for me. I think this is mainly due to my fear of living with the wrong choice, fear of regret. At times it has been so difficult that I preferred having no choice. I may still have to live with regret, but I would be consoled by the fact that at least it wasn’t my fault. Ridiculous, I know.
Let’s face it, bad choices can have dire consequences. Starting with the first bad choice by Adam and Eve in the garden. They chose to disobey God and eat the fruit He told them not to eat. Oops.
So decision-making can cause me a lot of anxiety. Especially big decisions like where to go to college, whether to accept this job or date that person or get married or have children or move to that city… Decision-making is a real peace-killer.
In today’s verse, Paul is helping the people in the church he started in Philippi find peace. There is anxiety and contention and confusion. He gives many wonderful remedies in Philippians 4, and you should read the whole thing if you are struggling with a lack of peace. In today’s verse he focuses on the problem of not knowing what to do and the anxiety that causes. His answer is basically, “Remember me?” The believers in Philippi knew Paul very well. He spent a lot of time with them, teaching them and living life with them. He is asking them to remember what he taught, what he said, what he did. Go back to basics.
So what did Paul teach, say and do? Paul pointed back to Jesus. Paul taught Jesus’s teachings, he repeated Jesus’s words, and he modeled Jesus’s self-sacrificing generous love.
It may not seem like looking to Jesus’s teachings and life would help me make big decisions. But it actually has helped me quite a bit. It has given me peace because I know that as long as I am doing my best to listen to God and love other people, any choice I make can’t mess up God’s plan for me. He’s much too powerful for anything I do to prevent His will. God will work everything out for the good of those who love Him. (see Romans 8:28) Even Adam and Eve’s devastating rebellion in the garden has been accounted for and redeemed. God planned for that and sent Jesus.
My job is just to love God and love people, and all my decisions should reflect that. God will take care of the rest. I have peace knowing God’s plan is good, and it cannot be thwarted no matter what I choose.
Dear God,
Thank you for your good, pleasing, perfect, and unassailable will. I’m so glad that I don’t have to be afraid about the future. Thank you for making my job simple – love you by loving people. Help my choices to always reflect that goal and to trust you with the rest. Thank you for your welcome peace.
CamDevo 