decision-making

A(nother) rather hectic day.

But a day full of the Lord's kind providences. His quiet, unobtrusive way of letting us know that his eye is always on us, and that he will prosper and provide for us in his service.

There were folk to be seeing in Glasgow today. It's not quite reached the stage of my saying - If it's Monday I'm in Glasgow - but it's beginning to feel a bit like that!

Normally I'd travel by train. Today, though, I'd decided (I wasn't entirely sure why) to go through by car.

Which was just as well. I'd not long set off before a call came through on my phone. I stopped at the side of the road to answer the call. (I thought I'd add that to let you know I'm a good, law-abiding citizen!).

My son. With a rather pressing problem. Was there any way at all that I could get the car through to him in Glasgow for him to transport some things back to Edinburgh? A deadline had out of the blue, and out of his control, been brought forward - he needed to have the things through in Edinburgh before the end of the afternoon.

A kind providence of God. If I'd chosen to travel by train as I usually do, we'd have been completely stuck! The Lord, though, knows these things in advance. It worked out well.

He got the bus from where he was and got himself to Glasgow: I told him where the car was parked: he called me when he got there: I came out of the meeting to give him the key: he got his stuff through to where it needed to be in time.

And was able to pick me up at the station when I got back through myself by train to Edinburgh later on.

Lesson. The Lord knows what he's doing and anticipates the problems that we have.

We all of us need to remember that, and rest in the grace of that truth.

Because we don't, and can't, know what lies up ahead, we have to trust the Lord for that.

And because he does know what lies up ahead, he sovereignly over-rules in all our circumstances to prepare us for that future. Even though in the present it doesn't always seem to make a lot of sense.

Why did I take the car today? I'm not really sure. Humanly speaking, I mean. I'd have been pushed to give you a reason. It just seemed somehow to make a bit more sense. It seemed the right thing to do.

It's like that, too, on the broader canvas. That was the sort of thing we were all discussing in that meeting through in Glasgow today. Thinking towards the future - and struggling to discern just what it is we should be doing.

We rest in the quiet confidence that the Lord is always ahead of the game and leading us on to where he means us to be. Sometimes all we can do is prayerfully think the matter through and conclude - "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us."

The Lord is smart enough, kind enough, and strong enough to step in and stop us if what we've planned is way off beam and is going to be a disaster. We learn to do what 'seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us'.

That's one of the greatest benefits, of course, of us meeting together like that. We have the chance to do the talking and thinking together. In the presence of God. Tossing things round in our minds, with him, and teasing things out.

We need to be doing a lot of that these days.

But the bottom line is one that we all need to learn. We can trust the Lord to go before us.

When I'd looked at my diary again, I'd begun to think I was daft to have said I'd be in so many different places today at different times.

I had to be back from Glasgow in time for our Boys Brigade Parents' Night. It's important for me to be there, since I'm the company chaplain. But I began to think - I'm not going to make it in time.

Well, like I said, we can trust the Lord to go before us. The way it worked out was great. My son was there at the station to meet me off the train. I got some time with him. I was down in time for the Boys Brigade night.

And the Boys Brigade evening was finished in time for me then to host a meeting with some of the elders here that I'd planned some months ago.

The margins were tight! But the Lord has an accurate watch. He's perfect in his timings.

"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." The guy who came up with these Proverbs knew his stuff all right.

I'm reminded tonight of something that Kevin DeYoung wrote in his book called simply 'Just Do Something'. It's not a long book at all. It's full of his customary wit and his very level-headed, gracious common sense.

He writes -

"The way of wisdom means three things: searching the Scriptures, seeking wise counsel, and praying to God."

He speaks a bit about prayer and what we should be praying for, and then goes on -

"... after you've prayed and studied and sought advice, make a decision and don't hyper-spiritualise it. Do what seems best. Sometimes you won't have to pray and read and seek counsel for a month. That's why the way of wisdom is about more than getting a decisive word about one or two big decisions in life. The way of wisdom is a way of life. And when it's a way of life, you are freer than you realise. If you are drinking deeply of godliness in the Word and from others and in your prayer life, then you'll probably make God-honouring decisions. In fact, if you are a person of prayer, full of regular good counsel from others, and steeped in the truth of the Word, you should begin to make many important decisions instinctively, and some of them even quickly. For most Christians, agonising over decisions is the only sure thing we know to do, the only thing that feels safe and truly spiritual. But sometimes, often-times actually, it's okay just to decide."

He ends the book with a rather startling, very liberating statement of the way it is.

"So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God."

In other words, don't let's get too hung up on the business of making decisions.

Seek God. Be sensitive to God's Holy Spirit - through his Word, through his people. And then simply trust God.

And remember, "sometimes, often-times actually, it's okay just to decide."