How do I make wise decisions when the path isn't clear? This is Lead In 10. I'm Chris Moore. Leadership would be a whole lot easier if every decision came with a neon sign. Do this, don't do that. But more often than not, we're starting with two or three options each with pros and cons and asking to ourselves, what do I do? Do I take the promotion or stay where I'm planted? Do we hire this person or should we wait? Do I launch that new product or do I step back? Or is it time to step up? The stakes feel high and our path feels foggy. That's where today's truth meets you. God isn't trying to hide his will from you. He actually invites you to come close and ask for wisdom. So let's go to the Bible. James chapter one, verse five says this, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God That gives to all men liberally and upright, if not, and it shall be given to him. Did you catch that? God isn't stingy with wisdom. He gives it liberally. To those who ask, and that's his promise. Proverbs three, five and six, the classic verse, trust in the Lord with all thy heart. Lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he shall direct thy pass. That's not a formula, it's a relationship. See, you don't have to lean on your own limited insight. You can trust in the God who sees the whole picture. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 21, paints this image and thine ear shall hear a word behind thee saying, this is the way walkie in it. God doesn't just give you truth. He walks with you in the decision. And that's one of the important things too. When you're facing a foggy path, how do you make wise and godly decisions? We have to walk with God. It takes some action on our part. You know, the wondering what needs to happen. Doesn't wondering, doesn't mean anything without putting some practical steps into place. So let's look at those. Number one, we need to ask, the Bible says, ask God for wisdom out loud and on purpose. That sounds basic, but we often skip it. We brainstorm, we worry, we Google things. We ask some of our friends, but have we stopped and simply prayed? God. I don't know what to do here, but you do. Please give me wisdom. Your wisdom, not just what makes sense to me. Pray that and mean it, and then keep your heart tuned to his voice. Step two, align the options with scripture. God's will never contradicts God's word. Lemme say that again. God's will never contradicts God's word. So if you're considering a path that would require you to lie, cheat, manipulate, or compromise on biblical values, it's not from him. Now, what if all the options seem good? Well, we have to look deeper and we have to ask which option best reflects some things. Stewardship, integrity, love. And purpose. The purpose God's called us to. The word is supposed to be our filter, not just for morality, but for what our mission in life is to be. Step number three, seek Godly counsel, not just popular opinion. That's a hard one. I mean, most of the time we look in the world and we see which direction you're going. There are plenty of business books out there that can take you away from what God's will is for you. Proverbs is full of this principle. In the multitude of counselors, there is safety. You need people around you who are wise, godly, and honest, not just friends who tell you what you want to hear. Bring them the options. Let them ask you some of those hard questions and be open to their insight. Even if it challenges you, challenge you in what you wanna think, challenge you in what you wanna do. Sometimes God speaks loudest through the voices of others who walk closely with him. Step four, trust God enough to take the next step. Once you prayed, you've searched scripture. You've sought wise counsel, move. Don't get paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong call. I was reminded once when I was in college, someone asked one of our, our older and very learned professors, a lot of experience both as a pastor in education in the business world. How do you know God's will? And he said, God will open a path for you. Walk in that path. Walk towards, try and open that door. If it's not God's will, he's gonna move you away from it. Proverbs says He will direct your path, but that always assumes that you're walking, that you're moving in a direction. God often guides our steps as we go, not before we move. Sometimes we may move to something that God doesn't want, just so he can show us exactly. This is not my will, so you never have to second guess. So if both doors are open, you have more than one and neither violates God's truth. Your heart surrendered. Take the next fateful step and trust him to redirect you if needed in the right path. God is not a trickster. He's not trying to trick us. He's a good shepherd. He's gonna let the sheep walk and he's going to direct them where they need to go. Let's talk about a couple of traps to avoid. Trap. Number one is demanding perfect clarity before obeying. You are rarely gonna get a crystal clear answer from heaven spelled out in skywriting. In truth, leadership and growing in leadership is sometimes making decisions with limited knowledge, limited knowledge of what's currently going on or what will go on. Sometimes faith means stepping into the fog with confidence in the one who you are leaning on to guide you. You're not leaning on the map, you are leaning on the God above. Now, you may not know the full path, but if you know the next step, that's enough. Trap number two is we can oversize in decisions. Sometimes we'll say, well, I'm praying about that. I'm waiting on an answer from God. When really what we're doing, we're procrastinating out of fear. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't pray, not saying we shouldn't wait on God, but if we use that as an excuse to not walk in his will. We're in trouble, so we should pray and, and yes, we need to wait for peace about something, but don't confuse some of the spiritual language we can use with faithful obedience. God isn't looking for a perfect decision or perfect decision makers. He's looking for humble, surrendered leaders who are willing to follow his lead step by step by step. So let's close with a reflection and a challenge. First, a, a question, what's one decision I've been delaying because I'm afraid to make the wrong move. Is it one decision? Might be more, but what's that one decision? What's the first thing that comes to mind? Say this all the time. Write it down. Make it real. When we write things out, for some reason in our, in our minds. It makes it stronger. It makes it more real. We take what we're thinking, we turn it into reality. So then take those four steps about what you just wrote down. Pray for wisdom. Compare it with scripture, ask wise counsel, and take the next faithful step. Remember, God's will is not some maze that we have to find our way through blindly. It's a relationship. He's not hiding. He's leading and he's with you every step of the way as long as you're taking steps. This is leading 10. I'm Chris Moore. Thanks for tuning in today. If you found this helpful, would you consider liking, subscribing or sharing this podcast with another leader who may be facing a big decision? I'll see you next time.