When you just can’t decide

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We finish this series today a 4 week journey through .

We’ve looked at when you’ve had enough, what do you do, of how do yo live through that, by praying through the pain & of having a perspective of praise & now we finish with WHEN YOU JUST CAN’T DECIDE. how do we make decisions or do we.

What happens when it comes to making decisions?

does your mind race?

are you overwhelmed?

do you suddenly become uncertain because of the pressure you feel?

does fear rise up in you because you might get it wrong?

What if it’s irreversible?

Maybe you made the wrong decision once, decision making anxiety is one of the biggest forms of anxiety.

To some decision making seems very complicated. Why is it complicated because we have so many choices & so many choices make us indecisive, unable to make a decision effectively.

Whose ever been to a restaurant, you get the menu. So now is the time to choose what you are going to eat. (hold a menu)

Thoughts(i like that, ooh i could have that, what’s he having, ooh that looks good on that table over there, what should i have? (stress is starting). I don’t know what to have.

Question “ what are you having” Answer “ the braised beef”.

Thoughts i like what he’s having but i like the look of that as well, but what if i don’t like it. iv’e done that before, maybe he’ll share)

But he is shaking his head, i could get this wrong, now he’s being impatient, i’m feeling pressured, help me.

Choice anyone had this. same with anything where there is so much choice.

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

as a choice Paul wanted to go to Rome but as a preacher not a prisoner.

A couple of things.

we are making so many choices

Ok some stats according to who you read or listen to, the difference in figures is quite mind boggling. But if we work it on the lowest figures i found for an average person, it’s 27 decisions a day. It works out to 788,400 choices over an 80 year period.

We are making so many choices.

2) we are afraid of making a costly mistake. (spiritual terms Missing Gods will)

There is a pressure to get it right, In school, to wear the right shoes, have your hair a particular way, Marry the right one, the right job, the right car. the right Spiritual book, pursue your purpose, live in Gods will, what is his will for me.

What if i miss these? I don’t want to let people down or let God down. We pile the pressure up on ourselves & then don’t make a choice, we become indecisive, but indecision is a decision.

What we do is complicate it.

Acts 15:22 ESV

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

Acts 15:

Acts 15:25 ESV

it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Acts 28 ESV

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him. After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: “ ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Acts

Acts 15:28 ESV

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

It seemed good to not complicate things, to ask God.

What do you do if you don’t know what to do?

What do you do if scripture doesn’t speak directly into the choice you have to make.

We could say then live how you want because scripture isn’t clear. We could just go by,

Proverbs 14:12 ESV

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

The Message puts it this way

There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.

This is important:

If you are around the wrong people, listening to the wrong voices, living for the wrong values, what seems right, will often be wrong.

If you are in the wrong cloud, listening to the wrong opinions that are different to Gods, basing how you live & what you do on these people, what seems right, will often be wrong.

But surely when we look at that’s what it says, they say it seems good to us.

But lets look again, this isn’t about 1 man but the whole church.

Listen you don’t go to church, the church is the people, it’s not the building, it’s about identity, I am the church, it’s more than this service. This is a gathering of the church, coming to worship God together, to hear life changing word of God, which is not only good for us but for all those that we come into contact with.

But worship should be an everyday occurrence for us, in our work, in our homes, in our college, in our schools, as we walk down the street, i don’t mean just singing but living a life of worshiping God. It’s about relationship not Religion, Religion is religious things at religious times on religious days, the rest of the time i do what i want. When actually we need to be the church, it’s not a place to meet our needs, it’s where we the church meet the needs of others.

Searching his word, seeking after Him, His heart, listening out for his voice on all aspects of life.

Lets just go back over the 3 weeks:

If it’s big enough to worry about, it’s big enough to pray about, what’s anxiety? It’s a signal telling us to pray.

It’s not about control, but it’s about surrender because of who he is not because of what He has done- Rejoice, have a perspective of praise.

if we are living a prayerful life & have a perspective of praise which are the 2 things spoken of over the last 2 weeks then we will seek God in everything & do what seems right, that’s what they are saying in .

Sometimes we make mistakes, we take the wrong turn, we mess up, we’ve ended up where we didn’t want to be, Paul wanted to be preaching in Rome not a prisoner. But he was still preaching but to a different audience, the influencers of the city.

God has a way of bringing good things out of wrong turns.

I have made mistakes all along my life, i understand if you have too, but God was still calling me. God can make a wrong turn into a right turn by using the wrong turn in someone elses life through you.

Hey you have something in your life that causes you anxiety, makes you anxious, maybe it’s a few things, but you have more to praise God for. What do you focus on, do you focus on the bad or the good. Don’t complicate your life focus on the good, cast down those thoughts.

With a posture of prayer & a perspective of praise, we will seek God & do what seems right.

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.