Should I take the promotion and move, or should I stay where I am? Should I keep dating him? Should I help her? People face tough questions like these all the time. In moments like these, we would love for someone to come along and give us the right answer, but this isn’t how life works. We have to make decisions and then live with the consequences. When facing a big decision, this can be a frightening prospect.

If you’re facing a difficult decision, you may turn to your faith for answers. But what does the Bible actually say about facing difficult decisions? We hope we can help by breaking it down here:

Trust God more than yourself

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

he’s the one who will keep you on track.

• Proverbs 3:5-6 (MSG)

Several verses like these from Proverbs highlight the virtues of leaning on the Lord’s wisdom rather than our own. After all, since wisdom exists, He is the source of all of it. When facing a tough decision, we can lean on the Lord through prayer and by consulting examples in Scripture of situations with themes similar to the challenges we face.

Ask for wisdom

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. James 1:5-8 (MSG)

We can equip ourselves to be better able to make difficult decisions and handle the consequences (whether good or bad) when we pursue wisdom. There is an entire book in the Bible full of lessons about wisdom known as the book of Proverbs. 

Ask God to help you grow in wisdom so that you may lead a wiser path in your own life and be a source of life for others. Consult Proverbs regularly and learn from what the Lord teaches us there.

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At Unfiltered Radio, we’re all about exploring what it means to follow Jesus and grow in wisdom. Check out our podcast to listen to daily episodes about personal growth, spiritual growth and talking about hard questions about God.