Have you ever found yourself seemingly lost when it comes to making the appropriate decision in life? Some decisions we are expected to make have no clear right or wrong answer. We all come across life questions that don’t necessarily have clear answers to them. So, knowing what to do and how to react at the right times can be challenging and I would say that we often don’t make the right decisions. We don’t always walk forth in wisdom. We might ask God for an answer but we never slow down enough or give him enough time to give us the clear answers.
Sometimes we might struggle to know whether we should go back to school, accept a course of treatment recommended by the doctors, knowing what type of help to offer to a friend in need, or whether to change our living situations. It can be hard to know where to turn and what to do when making a tough decision. I often will get advice from my family, friends, in-laws, and husband but at the end of the day those are just opinions. I am ultimately still responsible for myself and the decisions that need to be made. As a teenager, I had a very close friend who struggled with eating disorders and depression. But she was amazingly good at hiding it from the adults in her life.
She shared with me. I saw the extent of the disease. I shared in her pain. She shared her darkest thoughts with me, thoughts that scared the bejesus out of me. I was a 15 year old, what did I know about mental health. My biggest concerns at that time were working, getting into college, and the boy I had a crush on. I didn’t have advice for her. I didn’t know the right decisions to make. And there is no lonelier feeling than trying to figure out the right decision. Keep her confidence or to share her struggles with someone I trusted so she could get help. So not knowing what else to do, I turned to God to lead me towards the right answer. I turned to God to ask for the wisdom I needed to make the appropriate decision. Like Solomon, I desired to have the gift of wisdom to lead me down the right path.
In the end, I got the answer I needed. God had always been talking to me telling me what to do. I was scared of the words he spoke because they required courage and strength I had no idea I possessed. I spoke with that trusted adult and my friend got the help she needed. Solomon also asked for God’s guidance. When David died, God turned to Solomon and bestowed his favor upon him because he was a faithful servant. Solomon sought God’s favor and God’s guidance in his life evident in the offerings given to God. This can be seen in the care Solomon put into prayers. He sought out God each day to guide his decisions in the lives he touched.
Rarely do we actively seek God’s guidance when we need it the most. Many have forgotten to take such care in decision making. We do not always seek out God to guide our life journeys. It is hard to turn to God because sometimes his answers, that gnawing nagging feeling from within, requires us to take chances and risks, and God has a funny way of not letting us know how things will turn out when he guides us. He lights our paths from one moment to the next. We are called to walk our life journeys with purpose. Remember the warnings from Paul in our scriptures today, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.”[1] We need to search for God asking him to grant us wisdom in our lives when we need it the most.
Paul was talking about how our emotions, the pain of everyday life, can lead us down the wrong paths. The pain of life can cause us to make decisions that could lead to more pain. When we look to God in prayer then we are not allowing our emotions in those moments to rule our lives. So often we see people allowing their hatred, sorrow, lust, panic, or joy make their decisions but never the necessary time to seek the wisdom of God first. We are called this day to be like Solomon asking God to grant us wisdom in our decisions, asking God to grant us wisdom in our actions and days. With God’s wisdom, Solomon made some of the most important decisions for his kingdom. With God’s wisdom, Solomon was able to avoid making the same mistakes as his father. Remember David was responsible for killing a man over the lust he felt for Bathsheba. We are called to seek out God in life. We are called to seek out God’s wisdom to guide our hearts, to guide our words and to guide our actions. We should always be seeking to be better people of God. So the next time our passions rage let’s take some time to pray, take a few days to breathe, before coming to a decision on what needs to be said and done and in that time listen for what God asks of you and work to live into his wisdom. Let us remember the words of C.S. Lewis when he wrote, “Relying on God has to start all over every day, as if nothing has yet been done”.[2] Seek God for the wisdom you long for in life, for our search for wisdom is never finished, never done. It is a way of life that we are each called to.
[1] Ephesians 5: 15-16, NIV.
[2] C.S. Lewis, 20th Century Christian writing and theologian.
(Based on 1 Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-14 and Ephesians 5:15-20)
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