Lynn Jones: Decisions are demanded in life
By Lynn Jones
As I watched a baseball game on television one time, I heard an interesting statistic. During a major league baseball season, each umpire will have to make an average of 9,078 decisions about whether a pitch is a ball or a strike. This does not include all the other decisions that he will have to make about whether runners are safe or out on fly balls, plays at the bases, etc. If you want to be an umpire, you must be able to make decisions.
Life is like that. If you are going to live life successfully, you must be able to make decisions. Decision-making is often difficult. You seldom have all the information you need to make a decision. If you did, it would be a foregone conclusion, not a decision. What you must do is get all the information that you can and then make the decision.
Sometimes decisions are postponed. I heard about a jury that was formed to hear a case. As luck would have it, the jury was made up of four politicians, four lawyers, and four preachers. After the jury had deliberated for several hours, the judge asked the bailiff if they had reached a decision. The bailiff said, “Not yet. They haven’t finished the nominating speeches for the foreman of the jury.”
Decision-making in life is one of the most crucial things we do. We are shaped by the decisions that we make. Have you ever visited with an old friend whom you haven’t seen in years? As you visit now, you are so different you wonder how you were ever so close. What has happened is that you both have made many decisions since you were together. They have shaped the two of you into completely different persons.
Sometimes the decision was about directions. You stood at a crossroads and had to decide which way to go. As Robert Frost said in “The Road Less Traveled,” that decision “has made all the difference.” Sometimes the decision has been about matters of priority and Lordship. It’s the kind of decision that Joshua made when he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” These decisions are crucial. The decisions that we make in our best moments bind us in our worst moments.
Our greatest help in making decisions is found in God. On the second missionary journey, Paul and his traveling companions came to Troas and had to decide which direction to go. The Holy Spirit would not give them freedom to go into Asia or into Bithynia. But when they were willing to wait, God directed them in a vision to go into Macedonia, which greatly expanded their field of ministry. Decision-making is not easy, but God can give us His guidance to make the best decisions in life.
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
