Decisions (Part 4)
Decisions and Transitions
Text: James 1:2–8 NKJV
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
This message is the last in the Decision series and deals with transitions. The theme in this entire series has been that you need only one good decision to start you out of the woods of a lot of bad decisions. People get hopeless and think nothing can ever change, but one good decision is like a compass giving you direction and showing you the way out.
Life is full of transitions, and that makes it challenging, since approximately 70 percent of people don’t like change. This 70 percent are wonderful people, very loyal and faithful, but they don’t like it when they have to change in some way. Looking for a new job, moving to a new city, and disruption in their lives really throw them for a loop. It stretches us to change, and most of us hate that process. But change, or transition, is inevitable. So we have to learn to change if we want to remain relevant.
The Good News translation of James 1:8 says, “People like that, unable to make up their minds and undecided in all they do, must not think that they will receive anything from the Lord.” The Message translation, in speaking about these kinds of people, describes them as “adrift at sea, keeping all their options open.” Now that is the way we all like it to be. We want to keep all our options open and not make a decision until the last possible second. But the earlier you make a decision, the better the decision and the more options you have.
The New Living Bible translation of James 1:8 says, “They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.” Have you ever been like that? You say you don’t know what to do, but deep inside you do know what to do. That is the problem with most of us: we know what to do, we have the witness, we know the direction, but we just don’t do it. Somehow we’ve not been able to get the discipline that it takes to do it.
A decision is a transition that moves you from where you are to where you want to be, and change is a part of it; it is inevitable. If you have a dream in your heart, whether it’s to lose weight, go to college, or get out of debt, it will never be anything more than a dream unless you couple it with a decision. A dream without a decision will never go anywhere, because decision is what pulls the dream along. It is the horse that pulls the wagon.
You might be thinking, “Well, I’ve made decisions before. I’ve made resolutions that didn’t go anywhere.” Let me tell you why. Your decision was not a quality decision. If your doctor told you that you needed to lose weight, you would probably agree with him and do nothing. But if the doctor said you would be dead in a month unless you lost weight, you’d probably have the incentive you needed to make a quality decision that would change your life.
There are seven specific areas of your life in which you need to make quality decisions. If you are not making decisions and disciplining yourself to follow through with those decisions, you are not changing, and you are thus not reaching your destiny.
Seven Areas of Decision
1. Physical decisions: 1 Timothy 4:8
The first area of decision deals with your physical body. Some people say they don’t have to worry about the physical, because they are spiritual. It is true we are spiritual beings, but that does not give us license to neglect the physical body. I believe some Christians go to heaven before their time because they never made good decisions in this area.
Maybe you need to make a decision to work out or to start eating right or to try to decrease the number of medications you are on. These are important decisions to make. First Timothy 4:8 says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (NIV). So don’t forget that although the spiritual is the most important, the physical does indeed have value.
Maybe you smoke and you would love to quit smoking, or maybe you need to change your eating habits. But maybe you’ve just never gotten around to doing anything about it. Our problem, most of the time, is not that we don’t know what to do for our bodies; our problem is, we’ve never committed to the decision to do it.
In the Old Testament, Daniel and his friends ate vegetables and drank water and were healthier than everybody else that ate rich foods. Here is my challenge to you: Set aside three weeks to go on the type of diet that you feel you need to be on for a year to get to where you want to be physically. You may even want to fast some during those twenty-one days. Combine exercise with that, and see where you are at the end of three weeks. This will make it easier for the decision to become a true lifestyle choice.
2. Career decisions: Ecclesiastes 3:1
Perhaps you need to make some changes in your career. Maybe you’ve been in the same place in your career for many years: same pay grade, same status, same place, same company. But are you working at the highest level of your potential? You may not ever achieve that unless you are willing to make some transitions to where God wants you to be. That may require obtaining specialized training or more education. But as Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven” (NIV).
A number of years ago, a woman applied for a teaching position at our school, but we didn’t hire her because we didn’t have any openings. But we did need someone for another position, a rather minor one. So we offered her that, and she took it. She excelled in her work, and we began noticing her incredible potential. Over the course of a few years, that woman continued to advance and now is our chief of staff at Bethany!
My point here is that you have potential in the area of your career. Don’t limit yourself, and find out what the Lord is saying to you in this vital area.
3. Financial decisions: Romans 13:8
Next are financial decisions. Romans 13:8 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding” (NIV). I believe that it is the will of God for you to be debt free, but that means you will have to make a decision to live within your means and a commitment to get out of debt.
Many people have already done that and are living proof that you can do it too. But you first have to make that kind of quality decision. Start by making the decision not to put anything else on credit cards. Then develop a specific, detailed plan that will help you pay down existing debt until you are debt free. There are many good resources and financial advisors to help you do this. But until the decision is made, nothing will change.
4. Spiritual decisions: 1 Peter 2:2; Colossians 4:2
Your spiritual decisions are, of course, the most important of all your decisions. These decisions affect your eternal destination, while all the others affect your life only while you are on this earth. The only thing you will take into eternity is your spiritual life, so it behooves you to give it great attention now.
So, how do you change and transition spiritually? It’s not going to happen by itself; you will have to actively pursue it. Let me give you an illustration. For Christmas, I got quite a bit of things that pertain to golf: golf balls, golf bag, golf shirt. But none of that will make me a better golfer unless I actually start practicing or take lessons or do something specific to improve my game. The equipment and accoutrements of the game are useless by themselves.
But a lot of Christians think they will be better Christians if they just buy a new Bible or some other “religious” item. Chances are, that Bible will end up on the shelf with all their other Bibles unless they actually make a decision to open it and read it. Even good intentions about prayer and writing in a prayer journal or reciting the prayer of Jabez do not make you get up when your alarm goes off in the morning. Only disciplined quality decisions can do that.
First Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (NKJV). Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer” (NIV). A good way to accomplish both these things is to get connected to a small group where you will study the Word and pray with other believers; this will make you grow. If you’ll do this, you’ll be a different person a year from now.
If you want to grow spiritually, you have to focus on the things that matter and make you a better Christian. Read the Word, and spend time praying for what I call your target three; that is, three family members who need to be saved. It’s not a religious routine; it’s a decision to have fellowship with the Lord, enjoying Him and reading His Word.
5. Family decisions: Psalm 127:3
If your family is like most families, there are probably areas where you would like to see change. You may need to make a quality decision to develop a closer relationship with your children or with your spouse or with both. Make a decision that you are going to build quality relationships in your family.
Psalm 127:3 says, “Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?” (Message). It is an effort to make time for your kids, but it is essential, nonetheless. That’s where the value of a family night comes in, especially when your children are young. You can pop popcorn, wrestle on the floor, watch a movie—whatever way you want to interact with your kids. But it’s a night reserved for the family.
Maybe you need to set a date night with your spouse. That is truly an important thing in a marriage. Set a time once a week where you have lunch or supper together, with no phones or other distractions to compete for attention.
Family nights and date nights are simple things. But they will establish your home.
6. Schedule decisions: Ephesians 5:16
We all have the same amount of time. No matter if you are a housewife, pastor, or president of the United States, a day is a day, and a week is 168 hours. A year is 8,746 hours. Think about that: a year is 8,746 hours. Sleeping and working account for about 5,800 hours, so that leaves us about 3,000 hours of free time a year. That’s a long time, and you can do a lot with that amount of time. The only problem is that most of us spend a great deal of that time watching television.
According to the Nielson ratings, the average American family has a television on 6.8 hours a day, and the average person watches television four hours a day. Two out of three families in America have the television on while they eat their meals. That time doesn’t even take into account the time we spend surfing the Internet or watching movies or doodling on an iPhone. Consequently, most of our 3,000 hours of free time are eaten up by unproductive things. I’m not against television; in fact, our church owns a television station. But what I am pointing out is the fact that we are wasting our lives. If the average person added up the hours he spent watching TV, by the time he was 65, he would have spent nine years of his life sitting on the couch in front of the tube! Nine years! What do we really have to show for it? If you really want to transition, turn off the TV sometimes and unplug from the world.
If you take one hour a day and devote it to learning about a particular subject, you can become an expert in that field in one year. Experts say 300 hours of study in a field qualifies you as an expert in it. Think what you could achieve—or think about spending the rest of your life watching more TV. Your potential is right in front of you, but only a decision on your part can maximize it.
7. Relationship decisions: 1 Peter 4:4
If you want to change your life, some of your relationships may have to go. I challenge you to break off relationships with people who do not build your life but detract from it. These are negative people who seem to suck the life out of you whenever you’re around them. You don’t need to be spending a lot of time with people like that. You need to be around people who are full of faith.
Even Jesus once put negative people out of the room when He was getting ready to raise a dead lady. If you constantly hang around negative people who are down, depressed, defeated, discouraged, and despondent, before long you’ll be just like them. You will go down to their level.
That’s why 1 Peter 4:4 in the Message says, “Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. You don’t have to give an account to them.” Instead, hang around people who are serving God. Join a small group where you can be around other Christians. Find a spiritual mentor who loves God and will help you learn how to serve Him better. In your relationships, you must build certain ones and cut off others.
The 4 A’s of a Good Decision
Let’s look at 4 A’s in making good decisions.
1. Accuracy: Here is where you start in making a good decision. Develop a long-range plan. You have to know where you want to go in order to move toward it. If you don’t have a long-range plan, you’ll never get there. Be accurate and concise in your decision. Don’t shoot your arrow at the fence and then go draw a target around the arrow. That’s not accuracy, and that is not a good decision.
2. Accountability: Once you’ve developed a long-range accurate plan, you’ve got to become accountable to carry it out. You must put into place systems and processes and plans by which you cannot fail. I don’t know about you, but I forget appointments. So I learned to set an alarm on my phone about half an hour before any appointment. That helps me be where I am supposed to be when I am supposed to be there.
Systems cause your dream to be accomplished. Maybe you want to get up and pray each morning, but you might need an early morning call from somebody else who wants to pray too. Find a way to partner with someone who will help you reach your goal.
3. Action: You can have a plan, and you can even have a system set up to facilitate the plan, but if you never actually start, nothing will change. Some people are always “beginning to proceed to commence to start”!
You know the old saying: on your mark, get set, go! There comes a time when you have to start actually running the race.
4. Accomplishment: I love to see people accomplish. Nothing blesses me more than to see somebody who really wants to lose a lot of weight achieve that goal and keep it off. That just blesses me. Or somebody who says, I’m going to graduate from college,” and then they actually do it. When you accomplish even the first step in a big decision, you need to celebrate. The prophet says, “Don’t despise the day of small beginnings,” so celebrate small victories, like the completion of your first semester at college or the first bill you pay in full. How about celebrating when the first family member you prayed for gets saved or when you reach some other spiritual goal, like reading through the Bible?
I think about Jesus in Luke 9:51: “As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and set out on His way to Jerusalem” (GNT). It’s time to be resolute, to make up our minds once and for all and make quality decisions that will affect our lives not only on this earth but in eternity!
