Day 6: Make Your Decision by Faith

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Make Your Decision by Faith

I love a good guarantee. Especially a money-back one. We once had a treadmill for a few years and then one day, it quit on us. But because of the guarantee, we were able to take it back and trade it for a brand new one. Zero questions asked. It felt like magic. 

Wouldn’t it be great if life worked this way? If we could be magically guaranteed that our children would turn out a certain way? That our jobs would be secure? That our choices would come without risk? 

Unfortunately, most of life is void of guarantees and instead is full of risks. And God knows this. Which is exactly why He said that “the righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:17).  Living life by faith looks much more like a trust fall than a money-back guarantee. I remember the first time I tried doing an actual trust fall out in the woods with my fellow sixth graders. I was absolutely scared to death. So many questions swirled in my little eleven-year-old brain: 

What if they drop me? 

What if I get a concussion? 

What if I break my arm and can’t play basketball? 

Living life by faith can leave us with a lot of “what ifs.” But what if I told you there is one good answer for every single what if question? Guaranteed? At the risk of oversimplification, I think we can, by faith, say the answer to every “what if” is: “God will take care of me.” 

Does this actually hold? Let’s give it a go. 

Question: What if I make this choice and I regret it? 

Answer: God will take care of me. After all, He took care of Peter after he denied Jesus three times. Talk about regret. And restoration.  

Question: What if I make this decision and it’s a terrible mistake? 

Answer: God will take care of me. After all, He took care of David after adultery and murder. And David’s choices were sinful ones. Surely He will take care of me. 

Question: What if this choice turns out to be the hardest path I have ever walked?

Answer: God will take care of me. After all, He took care of His own Son after He faced betrayal, persecution, beatings, crucifixion, and death. He brought a resurrection. 

In any possible scenario, we can bank on God taking care of us and we can usually find a character in the Bible who has cashed in that check.  

Friend, in your decision making, make your choice by faith and then get to it with grace and without grumbling. Ask God to increase your faith. Many disciples asked for an increase of faith because they knew how small theirs was and how much God prizes faith in the kingdom of Heaven. No choice is risk-free. No choice comes with all the guarantees. But in every choice, you can trust the Maker as your safety net. 

Does that mean this choice is free from struggle? Or God will make an easy way? Or you are now free from more stress, emotion, and fatigue to come? Don’t I wish the answer was yes. But it’s no. However, it does mean He will be with you in this decision. He will not abandon you. He will not forsake you. He is for you. He adores you. He delights in You. You can trust your good, good Father as you make a choice in the middle of a not-so-good situation. 

God, thank you that you can increase my faith! Please increase it today. Thank you that you honor faith instead of sight and help me to walk by faith as best as I can today. You are with me and you will always take care of me. It may not be how I imagined, but You will, and I am grateful. Amen.

Scripture for Reflection:

Luke 17:5  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

Romans 1:17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Thank you for joining my 6 day devotional! If you enjoyed this, you’ll love my 100 Day devotion: Grace Looks Amazing on You