
Good questions lead to good decisions.
Am I being honest with myself, really?
What is the story I want to tell?
Is there a tension that deserves my attention?
A red flag moment…“I don’t know why but this doesn’t feel right” moment.
Instead of ignoring it-lean into it.
Don’t brush it off.
Take a pause and ask yourself, “What about this bothers me?”.
It’s not easy to do.
- Internal tension
- Relational tension
Face that tension until the tension goes away or you decide to go a different way.
1. David didn’t allow bitterness or resentment to dictate his decisions.
Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. I cry out to God Most High, to God, who vindicates me. He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me—God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
-Psalms 57: 1-3
2. David didn’t cave to the pressure of his circumstances.
The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
1 Samuel 24:4Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”
1 Samuel 24: 5-6
3. David wanted God’s call, God’s way- no matter how long it took. (or what it cost him).
May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.
1 Samuel 24:12
What about you?
What decisions are you wrestling with right now?
The tension may very well be God’s way of protecting you. It may be His way of waving you off from a decision that you’ll later regret.
Both times, I (eventually) choose to trust God with my future instead of allowing fear to override the tension that needed attention.
Is there a tension that needs attention in your life today?
Pause and allow
If something bothers you, let it bother you.
Face it, embrace it, don’t excuse it.
Face that tension until the tension goes away or you decide to go a different way.
You need to ask yourself some questions before you make the decision that will change your life?
Like:
What is bothering me about this?
Am I ignoring a tension is this relationship that needs attention?
Am I using alcohol or something else to avoid feeling the tension?
What is the tension that I trying to avoid?
If I acknowledge it- what does that mean?
Am I being honest with myself really?
What is the story you want to tell?
Is there a tension that needs attention?
“You write the story of your life, one decision at a time”
Often it is pride that is hurt and we call that a regret but the greatest regrets we can have are when we held onto our pride and didn’t make a new decision when we realized we were wrong.