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OCTOBER 29, 2010
PLAIN AND SIMPLE
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed. (Proverbs 15:22, NIV)
You know what it’s like to play on a windy day. Familiar holes change character, forcing you to consider afresh
how to negotiate the hazards and attack the green. Comfortable designs that normally set themselves up “right in front of you” suddenly turn into daunting mysteries, challenging mind then
body.
Life, too, has its windy days. The choices we have to make are not plain and simple. Faced with a tricky decision, we
have all been crippled more than once by indecision.
Is there a biblical answer for times such as these?
Actually, the trouble is that when it came time to make a decision, even the men and women of the Bible didn’t
know exactly what to do.
David sometimes consulted the Lord directly—and received a direct answer! Unfortunately, this kind of example is
rather uncommon. And since the favorite question of biblical kings seemed to be whether they should go to battle, their pattern isn’t one that fits most of our lives.
There are those who felt their own weakness in tough quandaries and relied on consultation. They went to others they
knew to have strong faith and asked for their on the situation. After all, we are told, wisdom is found in counsel.
Frightfully strange are the inclusions of lot casting and straw drawing and the breastplate of decision worn by the
priests. The remaining disciples prayed and then drew straws as a way to add Matthias to their number in replacement of Judas Iscariot. Is that really a biblical way to make a decision? Amazingly, yes.
And then there was the Council of Jerusalem that joined heads and came up with a way for Jewish and Gentile believers
to live at peace with one another. It was a team approach to decision making.
Maybe our lesson in all this is that we are to trust God more. We study His Word, seek Him in prayer, and then make the
decision that best serves the situation, knowing that it is all in His hands—because, of course, it is.
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Jeff Hopper
October 29, 2010
Copyright 2010 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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