Decisions and Fear
Do you ever struggle to make a decision? Decision making can be a difficult task for many and I can relate. Some decisions are obviously more difficult to make than others. However, it is not always the most difficult ones I have wrestled with. I have come to realize the reason I have so much trouble making decisions is summed up in one word … FEAR!
When I was much younger and living outside the Will of God, I had no trouble making decisions. In fact, often times I made hurried decisions with little or no thought in regards of what consequences may come from those hasty decisions. I was a product of bad decisions made by my mother when I was at a very young and impressionable age. At the time, I had no idea the impact of her poor decisions would have on me later in life. Fast forward several years to me accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, marrying Gary and gaining the greatest family in the state of Tennessee, and ultimately becoming a mother myself, drastically changed the way I thought about my decision making.
You see, my decisions were no longer only mine. My decisions now affected other people in a direct way, especially my children. I was so afraid of failing as a decision-making mother, that I failed miserably and often. I feared that I would hurt my children the way I had been hurt by my own mother. I placed a tremendous amount of pressure on myself as a mother, and as a human being, to make perfect decisions in all things. That pressure prohibited me from being able to make a rational decision at all, which ultimately lead to many more bad ones.
The Lord has shown me that there is no such thing as a perfect decision. There are only good decisions and bad decisions, and I am guilty of making both every single day. In hindsight though, I know that my struggle with fear in making decisions has helped me to make fewer bad decisions, but also to realize my good decisions have not always turned out to be the perfect choice either. When I consciously make the effort to make a God-Pleasing decision, the dreaded fear-factor seems to disappear, and I feel more at peace with the fact knowing there is no such thing as perfect decision.
In a fear-filled and uncertain world, we can be certain that our imperfections never override God's promises. His promises do not depend on our ability to always make the best decisions in our lives, but instead, His Perfect ability to use us well and according to His Perfect plan.
God Bless,
Tara Barnes
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths.
When I was much younger and living outside the Will of God, I had no trouble making decisions. In fact, often times I made hurried decisions with little or no thought in regards of what consequences may come from those hasty decisions. I was a product of bad decisions made by my mother when I was at a very young and impressionable age. At the time, I had no idea the impact of her poor decisions would have on me later in life. Fast forward several years to me accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, marrying Gary and gaining the greatest family in the state of Tennessee, and ultimately becoming a mother myself, drastically changed the way I thought about my decision making.
You see, my decisions were no longer only mine. My decisions now affected other people in a direct way, especially my children. I was so afraid of failing as a decision-making mother, that I failed miserably and often. I feared that I would hurt my children the way I had been hurt by my own mother. I placed a tremendous amount of pressure on myself as a mother, and as a human being, to make perfect decisions in all things. That pressure prohibited me from being able to make a rational decision at all, which ultimately lead to many more bad ones.
The Lord has shown me that there is no such thing as a perfect decision. There are only good decisions and bad decisions, and I am guilty of making both every single day. In hindsight though, I know that my struggle with fear in making decisions has helped me to make fewer bad decisions, but also to realize my good decisions have not always turned out to be the perfect choice either. When I consciously make the effort to make a God-Pleasing decision, the dreaded fear-factor seems to disappear, and I feel more at peace with the fact knowing there is no such thing as perfect decision.
In a fear-filled and uncertain world, we can be certain that our imperfections never override God's promises. His promises do not depend on our ability to always make the best decisions in our lives, but instead, His Perfect ability to use us well and according to His Perfect plan.
God Bless,
Tara Barnes
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths.