Making Decisions

Over the past few weeks Andy Stanley completed a series called "Your Move." The series was based on how to make good decisions. Over the past year I have been faced with many decisions and have a lot of others to make in the upcoming months. Andy gave 4 specific questions to ask anytime you are faced with a decision no matter how big or small.

1. Am I being completely honest with myself.

2. What story do I want to tell?

3. Is there a tension that needs my attention?

4. What would be most honoring to God?

On the surface, the first question seems obvious. We like to think that we are always honest with ourselves. But when I dig a little deeper, I think back to a couple of times in my life where I have had to make decisions and I know now, looking back, that I was not honest with myself or anyone else about the situations. In several of those times, I avoided the truth because it would have made the decision harder or would have been more painful.

The second question, "What story do I want to tell?" opened my eyes to a new way of thinking. Andy described our life as a series of stories. Looking back, high school is now just a story I tell. The same for college and grad school. Everything that happens in our lives eventually becomes just a story that we tell. When making decisions, we need to decide how that decision is going to change our story. If our decision is not going to be something we will want to tell our children or grandchildren, then it is probably the wrong one.

Question 4, "Is there a tension that needs my attention?" I wasn't quite sure what this question meant at first. This tension is representative of that little voice in your head/heart/gut that lets you know there is something that you should be weary of. A lot of times we may feel this tension but ignore it. The important thing to learn here is to pay attention to that little voice because it is there for a reason.

Thus far all of the questions seem easy enough to ask before making a decision. Then that last one comes up and hits you pretty hard. "What is most honorable to God?" God should be the person that we put first when making decisions in our lives. Are the decisions we make everyday honoring God?

I really enjoyed the series and believe it will help me in making decisions in the future. I wanted to pass it along so that it may help you too.