At a Crossroad?

Are you at the place of decision making? At a crossroad where you must decide whether to turn to the left or right or to go forward or retreat? We know that life does not always give us a retreat option once a decision is made.

We also do not know what is down each road but we can say in the words of the song by Don Moen: “No matter what may come my way, my life is in Your hands.”

Perhaps you have made the turning into a road already and you know this is not where you ought to be but you are not ready to or can not retrace your footsteps back to the crossroad.

Several times in the course of a day, we find ourselves at the crossroads of decision making. Some decisions are minor and routine—what to wear, what to eat, when to sleep, when to get up, who to be nice to and such. While some are critical with life changing impact—what course to study, which university to attend, career choices, choice of a life partner, choosing to wait for God’s time, conducting our lives and business by God’s standard etc.

Some decisions ultimately impact our lives for years. No matter how hard we wish we could, there are some things we can‘t go back and undo, and we have to live with the consequences of such decisions.

Your heart desperately desires this ONE thing and you have waited for a LONG time for it to come and it seem not in sight.  You are tired of waiting for God to show up the way you want Him to in this situation. You find yourself at the crossroad where you have decided to go the way that will give you what you want but clearly not in the way God would approve but you hope at some stage you can come back and settle with God. You are taking God’s grace and mercy for granted.

There is a way that seems right to a man but the rightness of that way is like a phantom which arises from self-deception and it leads to destruction (Prov. 14:12). This way is a careless disregard to the will of God. It is highly provoking to God. And God can not be mocked.

Dear Friend, this is a passionate plea to you, don’t turn into this road, it is full of thistles and thorns ahead. If you have turned in already, it is not too late turn back NOW. You don’t want the agony of the burden of conscience. You want to keep a clear conscience before God in all things (Acts 24:16).

There is a clear difference between acting in ignorance and deliberately acting in error, no matter what the arguments maybe. What benefit would you reap from the things you would be ashamed of? What would you have gained by doing those things which you will later regret?

You may not understand God’s plans for you now and why He is taking you through this route but your life is in His hands. He has a good plan and purpose for your life. Don’t give up on God now. He will never give up on you.

My mother once said to me, “Never get desperate about anything. Desperate people do desperate (and despicable) things” – emphasis mine. Pursuing a route which will give a short term pleasure at the risk of deviating from the larger picture can not be desirable in the long term.

I read of a mother who advised her daughter that each time she is at a crossroad to visualize a perfect day in her future – at the age of 65 years – to the smallest detail – where she was, who she was with, what she was doing etc. If the decision she is about to make in the tiniest way leads her in the direction of the manifestation of that perfect day then it is worth pursuing.

At every crossroad, we need to fix our gaze and focus on our ultimate goal in life – if our goal is to please God by doing His will and thereby attain eternal life, we will be cautious not to turn into any road which will lead us away from that goal. We will be careful not to jeopardize our goal of attaining eternal life.

Robert D. Hales, in “Making Righteous Choices at the Crossroads of Life,” suggested three things that will help us in making decisions whenever we are at crossroads:

·         Prayer – ask for help, leading and guidance from the Holy Spirit

·         Study the Word of God to gain knowledge of His will

·         Seek wise counsel from those who have exhibited obedience to the commandments of God and demonstrated the willingness to follow the Holy Spirit.

Dwelling daily in the presence of God through prayer and the study of His Word will prepare us ready for the times of critical decision making so that we can by faith trust in Him when He asks us to wait at that crossroad for His time or to turn into the way He has prepared for us even when we do not understand it.

Are you the one who is tired of waiting? Don’t give up on God. He will make all things beautiful in your life in His own time.

What do you do when you are at crossroads? Share your story; it will enrich someone’s life.

Though I may not understand
All the plans
You have for me,
My life is in Your hands
And through the eyes of faith
I can clearly see.

 From Don Moen’s “God is God All the Time”