When we navigate life’s decisions, seeking out the best courses of action to take, we want something more than just our best guess to guide us. As believers, we want to know that our choices are influenced by a greater power than the happenstance flip of a coin or the drawing of straws can offer. We want to know that our powerful, present, and purposeful God is leading our decisions, and that we are relying on the sovereign wisdom and discernment He gives.
I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has prayed for guidance and then wished that God’s voice was an audible one that would thunder down a loud and crystal clear verdict, or that maybe He’d light up a neon arrow to show me which way to go when I’m at a crossroads in life. God, however, doesn’t choose to reveal Himself in that way. We do know that when we pray for leading, He not only hears, but that He loves us enough to guide and direct us.
Yet, often, we aren’t one hundred percent sure that we are following His path for us. We want to choose His will and His way, but sometimes we aren’t sure if we’ve done the right thing. Is the voice we listened to His, or is it another voice that we’ve chosen to follow?
So, how do we know God is the one leading us in our decisions?
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1. We pray for God to lead and listen for God’s answer.
The first step to knowing that our decisions are led by God is to seek Him as we make those decisions. He wants you to seek Him first. He wants an intimate relationship with you and longs for you to seek His will and His way for your life. He promises to answer if we knock, and to be found when we seek Him.
James 1:5 NIV tells us that “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
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2. We look to His word for guidance.
The second way we seek God in our decision-making is by consulting His word. God speaks through His word. His Word is alive and active and is useful in providing the insight and the direction that we need when we are making life’s decisions.
Psalm 119:105 NIV says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path.”
Psalm 119:130 NIV tells us, “The unfolding of your word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
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3. We listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
The next step in seeking God in our decision-making process is to engage with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, our guide, and our helper. As, believers, the Spirit is present within us for the purpose of drawing our hearts closer to God’s. We have the ability to discern the movement and prompting of the Spirit within us, steering us one way or another.
John 14:26 NIV says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you. Of everything I have said to you.”
1 Corinthians 2:10 NIV states that “these are the things God revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”
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4. We seek out the wisdom of godly people.
The fourth way we can know that God is leading our decisions is to seek out the wisdom of godly people. God reveals Himself to His children. He gives us wisdom and spiritual gifts so that we can build up one another and encourage one another in the faith. Ask the Godly people in your life for counsel.
1 Corinthians 12:8 NIV states that “to one is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit.”
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5. We watch the circumstances in our lives.
The fifth way we can be sure that God is at the center of our decisions is to watch the circumstances in your life. Are doors opening or closing? Are paths being cleared or are obstacles presenting themselves? God often uses the circumstances in our lives to speak to us and to provide direction. Our roles are to be observant and discerning.
Psalm 19:1 NIV points out that even “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
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6. We ensure that our decisions reflect the character of God.
The sixth step in seeking God in our decision-making is to ensure that when we do make a decision, we ensure that it reflects the character of God. God will not contradict Himself nor will He go against His word. As the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the God Who Does Not Change, He will never ask us to do something that is completely against His nature.
James 3:17 NIV says that the “wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
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7. We trust God as we walk in faith and obedience.
The final way we can know that God is leading our decisions is to trust that if we are fully following Him and misstep, we can have faith that he will correct our paths. He is the Great Course Corrector. He loves us and has a good plan for our lives. If we have sought Him and are walking in faith and obedience, He will convict us and correct our paths if we move in the wrong direction.
Proverbs 2:6 NIV reminds us that the “Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
2 Peter 1:3 NIV tells us that “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
God won’t leave us hanging out to dry. He won’t abandon us when we need Him nor will He ignore us when we draw near to Him.
He is faithful and good. He is present and accessible. He loves us and wants to lead us when we seek His will and His way.
You can know that God is leading your decisions if you have sought His direction in prayer, have looked to His word for guidance, have tuned your ear to the Holy Spirit, and have sought the wisdom of godly people. If you have watched your circumstances to see how God is moving and have made sure that your decisions do not contradict the nature of God, then you can trust, as you walk in faith and obedience, that He is the one leading your decisions.
Bobbie Schaeperkoetter is a writer, speaker, community builder, and an encourager of women at http://www.bobbieschae.com. She’s passionate about connecting women to Jesus, to one another, and to the Body of believers. You can connect with Bobbie through her website or on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/bobbieschae or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bobbieschae.
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Originally published Friday, 28 February 2020.
