Serious Decisions

Are you feeling heavily burdened because you have an important decision to make? You don't have to make it all by yourself. God is the very source of real intelligence, and He is with you every moment. God loves you. He will give you every idea needed to handle any decision confronting you.

Find encouragement in the Bible! The book of James, for example, says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (1:5).

Once, I was trying to make a serious decision and just couldn't do it. The outcome would affect many lives. Making lists of pros and cons didn't solve anything; it only confused the issue. Discussing my situation with family and friends only brought conflicting opinions. I felt I was about at the end of my rope.

You see, my marriage of many years had become a pretty shaky one at best. Despite our differences, I felt both my husband and I were as innocent as our children, who I feared would suffer the consequences of a separation. None of us, I felt, should have to go through all this pain and turmoil.

From having studied the Bible, together with the Christian Science textbook by Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures," I knew that reasoning correctly means turning to God, the one Mind, for answers. I was learning from studying Christian Science that all discord has its roots in the belief, false in premise and conclusion, that existence involves many different human minds with conflicting opinions, habits, and ways of thinking - whereas God is All, the one supreme, good Mind.

Both my husband and I consciously tried to make God the center of our living. And it became clear we could safely turn to Him, the divine Parent of all of us, to guide us in this crucial hour of need. At the root of some of our problems was the feeling we each held of being a good person who was frequently misunderstood by the other. At times, both of us felt wronged by the other.

We looked to the example of Christ Jesus, who showed that God alone is the source of all good. Jesus renounced any sense of good being personal - that is, something independent of God. We knew Jesus forgave those who had wronged him. Couldn't we forgive? Jesus yielded to God's will totally. It's obvious that in times of turmoil he knew he could trust God to bring about a good outcome. Couldn't I, too, in this admittedly smaller matter, trust God to deliver me out of any sense of being hurt or wronged?

I remembered Daniel, who prayed to God consistently, even after being threatened with punishment if he persisted (see Daniel, Chap. 6). Though he had to go through the experience of being thrown to the lions, he came out unscathed. Did Daniel have to sacrifice his happiness as a consequence of his trust in God? No, his time of trial concluded with a happy ending. I wanted a happy ending to our situation, too.

Both my husband and I prayed deeply to feel God's blessing on our family.

One morning I was finally ready to lay aside my self-justifications and fears, to stop weighing the human opinions. I sat praying quietly. I was remembering, affirming, that I was one with the all-knowing Mind. Then I opened the Bible and read the first passage my eyes fell on. It was "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalms 133:1). My eyes filled with tears, and my heart welled up in gratitude. There it was. No doubt about it. Clear-cut direction.

Interestingly enough, my husband arrived at the same conclusion independently, and also through listening for God's guidance. Now, many years later, we've grown in gratitude for each other, and for God; our family has been blessed.

If you are in the midst of making an important decision, prayer is the most essential ingredient to aid you in arriving at an answer. Perhaps, in your case, you will hear God speaking directly to you through an angel message that leads you in the right path. Through prayer, some people have found their difficult circumstances adjusted in such a way that a decision was no longer even required of them. Individual experiences will differ. But all who turn humbly and wholeheartedly to God will find healing answers.