Why God doesn’t tell us which decision is the right one

The decision the McCormicks made decades ago impacts my right-now life in the biggest ways possible.

Decisions can be a really big deal, which is why we want to make the right ones. And if God would just tell us what to do, then we’d be golden…but that’s not how it works. We can get a better understanding of how He operates when we understand these two things:

1. God’s will for us is not to be checklist followers.

While we crave step-by-step instructions, God craves relationship. It’s why He strolled in the garden on evening walks with Adam and Eve, why He sent His Son to get us back, and why He’s planning and preparing a place for us now.

Andy Stanley writes in The Principle of the Path, “Instead of sending us a matrix for decision-making or a GPS, He’s asked us to trust Him. To lean on Him. To acknowledge His right to rule. And in exchange, He will make our paths clear. Again, divine direction begins with submission.”

If we had step-by-step instructions, we wouldn’t need trust or a relationship with Him. God gives us options and no road map to drive us to our knees and to His feet. God doesn’t give us a map because He wants to give us Himself.

2. God’s will for us doesn’t center around what we’re doing.

“God’s primary will for your life is not what job you ought to take; it’s not primarily situational or circumstantial,“ John Ortberg writes in All the Places to Go… How will you know? ”God’s primary will for your life is that you become a magnificent person in His image, somebody with the character of Jesus.”

In Romans 8:29, God tips His hand: His desire for us is to look more and more like His son Jesus. God knows that what’s best for us is to look like our big brother: loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, and self-controlled, believing, rejoicing, praying, thankful, and testifying-to-grace. Whatever we do, it must lead us to this type of character.

However, the Achiever in me has two problems with how God operates.

My Achieving nature, the one that leans more on myself and less on the God of amazing grace, tells me that all of this sounds a bit too fluffy. I mean, I’ve got stuff to do.

I’m focused on task and accomplishments. I want to know what to do so I can get on with it. I’m far less interested in relationship than He is.

While I see myself as the one who checks tasks off a list, God is whispering that people are the task and the goal. Productivity isn’t a completed list—true productivity is about connection, relationships, and learning. This idea is so foreign that I don’t know what to do with it.

I’m focused on what I can see. I’m focused on tangibles while He seems far more concerned with the eternal and invisible.

I’ve got one friend facing decisions about her employment (stay or go?) and another wondering which house to buy. These are real, life-altering decisions. But in our conversations, we’re focused on the here-and-now while God is focused on what we can’t yet see: our future, our relationship with Him, and who we’re becoming. This irritates me.

So I’ve got a choice to make: trust Jesus or doubt Him.

In the quiet of the mornings, Jesus and I talk a lot. I pour out my heart to Him and tell Him about my day and next steps, and I wonder how it’ll all get done. Just like you, I face decisions, ones that impact the trajectory of our family and our future.

And here’s what I tell Him at the end of our talks: “God, you know what I need, and you’ll provide for me and protect me from what’s harmful to my heart,” a truth that He confirms with a peace that transcends all understanding.

And I believe it for myself and for you.

Whatever decisions we make, God has a way of working them for His glory and our good. He’s not a God who can only work when conditions are favorable. He’s a God who can take our mess and make art and use every decision to transform our character. He takes our current reality and weaves it seamlessly with our future.

Whether we quit or stay, marry that guy or choose that major, save the money or spend it, God’s got our back.

So Achiever-friend, remember this today: God knows you. He’s aware of the desires of your heart and your limitations. He sees what you cannot see. And He wants a relationship with you.

The decisions you make today may have lasting impact like the decision my in-laws made 30 years ago—don’t let that freak you out. Instead, be grateful that He’s got this all figured out even if you don’t. He’s got this, and He’s got you.