Kingdom Decisions

My favorite book in the Bible is the Psalms and I often read them along with a Proverb chapter every day. Of all the chapters, Proverbs 16 is my favorite.

“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.”

How do we make decisions? How do we know how to “seek first the Kingdom of God” in our day-to-day life? Robert Frost wrote of two roads dividing in the yellow wood. As we walk through this life we will come to forks in the road and we will have to make decisions. I remember going hiking with a friend. There was a small river that we would often swim in or camp on and we decided to follow its path to see where it went. As we walked, we soon found the river split into several different streams. We kept having to choose between going to the right or to the left and it wasn’t long before we were lost. Frost spoke of only choosing between two roads, but this complicated life is a lot more like our hiking trip in that it seems to offer hundreds of forks in the road.

Our lives center around the choices we make. You chose to get out of bed this morning. You chose to eat or you chose to not eat breakfast, you chose to put on the clothes you put on, you chose to get in your car and come to church. We are faced with choices almost every moment of our lives. Some have more significance than others. Should I get married to this person? Should I stay married to that person? Should I go to this college? Should I accept this job? Should I buy this house? Should I go on this mission trip? Should I spend my time doing this? Everywhere we turn there are choices to be made.

Many of the choices are good choices—they are moral, they are legal, and they are allowable, but many of them are not wise. If we are going to seek the kingdom first and foremost we will have to learn to make godly decisions. In order to do that we will need God’s guidance. How can we find it?

The Hebrew word for “guidance” is a word from which we get the word rope. Ropes were used in those days for guidance in navigation. The sailors would use the ropes to lower the sails, they would use the ropes to move the sails, they would use the ropes to raise the sails, and they would use them to tie them down during the storms. You and I need the guidance of God all of the time, but we are especially aware of our need for guidance during the storms of our life. How do we get His guidance?

I think we have to understand there is a guidance that is happening all around us…it is something that God does. God isn’t sitting idly by waiting for us to act…He is actively working, He is advancing His Kingdom, and He is working in us as His workmanship, conforming us to His image.

Choices matter…In Proverbs 21:5, the Bible says,

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”

The word diligent could be translated strategic and the word haste could be impulsive. In other words a strategic person who plans succeeds, but the impulsive person who does not plan does not succeed. The Bible tells us that we should plan ahead instead of just letting life happen. We read that and think—our choices do matter, but then we come to 16:33.

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”

The lot being cast is like drawing straws or flipping a coin. It is the way we discover who goes first in the football game—or the way we pick someone to do a task. In the OT the High Priest had what was called the Urim and Thummim to make decisions and to seek the will of God. Here the Bible tells us that every little detail, every single coin toss comes down exactly the way God plans. In other words, not only are the big things a part of God’s plan—the smallest things are fixed by God’s plan.

We simply can’t hold both ideas in our mind…that our choices matter and that they are at the same time fixed by God. Our plans are our plans, but what happens as a result of the choices you make is fixed by God and both ideas are true.

We are not puppets on a string, but at the same time can you imagine if you got everything you wanted? Do you remember the things you wanted in your teens…aren’t you glad you didn’t get all of them! At any moment we are absolutely free and at the same time absolutely in the hands of God.

God’s guidance is happening all around us even when we can’t see it. In Acts 27 Paul was on a ship headed for Rome. A storm hit and God assured Paul that he “must stand trial before Caesar,” and He graciously promised that He would save all the lives of those sailing with Him. A while later, some of the sailors were going to jump ship, but Paul told the Captain, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” Choices matter and yet God determines the outcome!

You see it in your own life in hindsight. So, how do we receive the guidance? Verse 3 says,

“Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”

That seems backward doesn’t it? “Commit” is a word that speaks of putting your entire weight upon Him. Unconditionally trust Him, seek Him first, and your plan will succeed. It is in the seeking that your plans are conformed into His will.

We want God to tell us—this college, this job, this person, but God is more interested in you and I becoming the kind of person who get’s guided. Do you want to make right decisions? Do you want to live every moment with the guidance of God? If that is your heart you must seek Him first—throw your entire weight upon Him—and come before Him and say “God I trust you. Do whatever you want to do in my life. Send me anywhere—just go with me. Lay any burden on me—just give me the strength to carry it. Cut off anything that keeps me from you—just use me for your glory.” When you can pray like that—when you can seek Him first and only Him you will find He is guiding you along as you live for His glory.

Most of the thoughts here came from a sermon I heard years ago by Tim Keller. You can listen to it here.