WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - LovingKindness: God's Grace in Decision Making

Episode Date: January 31, 2024

Ever wonder how we can align our decisions with God's word and will for our lives? Listen in to hear Emma and Carissa discuss how God's word and a few practical questions can lead us to glorify God in our decision making.

You're listening to the Loving Kindness podcast on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. My name is Emma Church. And I'm Chris and Isley. So, Emma, tell me about your day. Tell me about your life. Tell me how you've seen the Lord's loving kindness over the past couple of days. My day has been going phenomenally. I'm so excited that we're recording our second point.

podcast. So exciting. Yeah, and I just, the Lord has been so good as he always is, but just the past week, I have just been really thinking and dwelling on the simple gospel. I, on Sunday, you know, I go to this program, volunteering program for rural teens of America called Crossroads. I just started that, and it's really exciting because they bring all of these kids in from all different backgrounds, and they're sharing the gospel with them. And, you know, the way that they present the simple gospel to them is in a way that they can understand. And sometimes I feel like, you know, I need to hear that. I need to hear the gospel presented in that way because being at Hillsdale gives you so many great opportunities to be around like-minded people that all love the Lord.

And you get into these massive conversations. And they're so good. And they're so honoring to the Lord. But sometimes they can be so complex. and you don't have the answers to these questions that are being raised and that can be really discouraging and it can be hard to just rest in the fact of what Jesus had done for you and like that that's what you need to know and I just been really thinking about that recently and the grace of God so that's how I've been seeing his loving kindness recently but how are you chrisa how is your day

and how has the Lord been showing his loving kindness to you I'm doing so well um what you're saying about the gospel is so true. It is so forsaken in the church today and people will just forget about it. But just the simple gospel, like how it is laid out in the Bible is such a beautiful thing. And it transforms our lives and like it affects how we live. And when we realize that like the Lord sent his son, his undeserving son to pay the price that we deserved so that we can now enter into a right relationship with the Lord is so amazing and it's it's just just awe-inspiring if you will because like you were saying like we don't deserve um this relationship that we have with our lord which is amazing um but this week um it's kind of a chaotic week for me there's just some

big things going on there's a lot of uncertainty in not knowing where i'll be next year And so I've just been praying a lot for peace. And the Lord has blessed me tremendously and just pouring out his peace on me. It's a piece that surpasses all understanding. You're at a point where you're like, I should be nervous and I should be worried about this. But I'm not. And it only comes from the Lord. And he has answered my prayers and he has been so kind in doing that for me.

So yeah. But speaking about peace today, we're going to be talking about how we can find peace in decision making. And I am so excited. Emma cannot wait to talk about this with you. But we're going to talk about what the Bible says about making decisions. And also, I think you're going to touch. on what we should do when the Bible isn't necessarily seeming to speak directly into the situations we're facing. And one of the biggest reasons and one of the biggest ways we can do this

is through prayer. So the Bible isn't necessarily 100% explicit about, you know, what job you should apply for. But we have this gift of prayer. that we can use to ask God and bring it and surrender it to him. And also, the Lord has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is an outpouring of His grace on us. And the Holy Spirit leads us and guides us and makes our path straight. I know that here at Hillsdale College where we're studying, there are so many different decisions that we have to make on a weekly basis. Right. Yep.

Like we're always choosing between many, many really good things. Whether it's where should I live next year? Should I be an R.A. Should I apply for this job on campus? what am I going to study? What should I major in? We're faced with all of these decisions at every time. And so I'm hoping that today we can talk about how we can lean on the Lord for wisdom and making all of those decisions. What are your thoughts, Emma? Yeah. So kind of just touching on what you were saying just a little bit ago about what your prayer has been for this week. You know, you were talking about peace.

and not knowing exactly what the next steps are. And this life is a walking game with the Lord. And we take every step and we pray and we figure out what the next step is. And so I actually think this is perfect to talk about being that you were just saying how we're in the midst of decision making all the time. So it's like not only are we trying to share this wisdom we've received from the Lord, but also we have to practically take it out every single day. So who better to give this advice the people that have to do it every single day?

Anyways, that was a little tangent. We need wisdom. The Lord's wisdom is not something of the world. It is a futile and vain pursuit to go to other sources to find the inside only God holds. The world teaches a different story. It teaches, you know, find everything before you turn to God, right? And so we naturally, in our sin nature, want to go out and do everything without God when he is the only one that knows our future and what we're going. going to do and how we can do it for the kingdom of God. And so it's silly that we turn to ourselves

because we know nothing. And so in Proverbs 19, verse 21, says, many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. So whether we are wrestling with the minute details of something or facing some of the hardest trials in confusion or just as ambiguous, like we don't know what's happening, the Lord's peace. The Lord's peace. and wisdom is present and ready to be received as we are called to lay all of our burdens at his feet. It's ready and it's constantly there and it's through prayer like Christ, I was just saying that we enter in this conversation with the Lord because he desires that we live according to his will. So in James 1, verse 5, it says, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. So wisdom from the Lord is not unreachable and far from us because the Lord desires that we live a life actively pursuing his will in every decision that we make. You know, she just mentioned a little bit ago, maybe you like caught it. She says, he will make your path straight. So that goes right back to Proverbs 3, verse 5 through 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. You know, like you can see this on pillows or you can see this like on curtain. or something. It's everywhere, but it can get really commercialized. But when you internalize

these words, he will make your path straight. He will guide you. And so there's no need to fear and to worry about what you can't control and to take the position of God and exalt yourself higher than him and thinking that you know the next step. Amen. When he is the one that knows everything. So we can trust and be under the shadow of his wing, just like all the Psalms talk about and rest in his loving kindness because his loving kindness endures forever. Amen. Psalm 139. Thank you very much.

That's beautiful. That is beautiful. A lot of times we forget that God is the one who's writing our stories. We are not. And so we can trust in His will for our lives and we can lean into his love and his kindness and his goodness to us. Because no matter what happens in the process of decision making or in the process of decision-making or in the process of our life in general,

his will for us is good, and we can trust in that. You're listening to the Loving Kindness podcast on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Today, we are talking everything decision-making, and Emma and I were able to come up with some really practical questions that we can weigh our decisions against.

We're just going to throw these out at you, And you can turn to these whenever you're struggling to make a decision. Ask yourself these questions and they will point you back to the Lord and his will for your life. The first few that we came up with have to do with glorifying God. So will this decision equip me to better reflect Christ? Is this decision going to cultivate godliness in me? And finally, will it be a mean to encourage fellow believers? I always think of 1st Corinthians 1031 when I think about making decisions,

which says, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. So is what I'm doing or going to do going to glorify God? And if it's not, don't do it. And if it is, then you should definitely consider doing it. Because we are called to glorify God. Now that we have been transformed by the renewal of our hearts, we are now called to a higher act of not glorifying ourselves, but to glorify and honor God in every single thing that we do.

And the first commandment is to love God with all your heart, strength, mind, soul. The second commandment is love your neighbor as yourself. So is this decision going to be loving to God and loving to others? You know? Right. Is this thing that I want to do allowing me to serve others, to lay down my life, to pick up my cross and follow Christ? Right.

These are all things that we can be asking ourselves when we are facing something that's uncomfortable or a hard decision to make. Another question that we came up with is. is will it bring me into bondage of sin? This is so important. We just talked about being transformed by the renewal of our hearts. Once we encounter the gospel and to have faith in Christ, we are now in the process of being sanctified,

which means we are being made more and more like Christ. And so we were once slothed, slaves to sin and now we are slaves to righteousness. Romans 6. 17 and 18 says, thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. And having been set free from sin have become slaves of righteousness. So we are now not under this bondage of sin. And so we need to be making decisions that are not going to bring us back into that bondage. So be wise in making the decisions knowing that you do not want to fall into sin.

That's what we need to be protecting ourselves against. But rather, we need to be making decisions that align with this righteousness that we're trying to achieve the sanctification that we're always thinking for. We want to be making decisions that lead us closer and closer to Christ. Yeah, that's amazing. That was all just, wow, I'm just sitting here listening like I am really filling this message. Yeah, and scripture, you know, gives us boundaries that allow us to experience his freedom. Galatians 5-1 says it was for freedom that Christ set us free. If we keep standing firm and do not be subject again to yoke of slavery.

So exactly what Carissa was just saying, we are so incaligned to go back to the things that God said free from like looking in like exodus and the israelites were always like oh man i can't believe they did that like wow they just went straight back to everything god saved them from and we're like you are reading yourself on those pages that is us right there we're inclined to leave the lord and it is the sin nature within us but god through his process of sanctification is leading us to this life where we get to live with him i always say this i was just talking to someone about this but we are supposed to look different. Like we are walking with the Lord.

We are in communication with him. And he has changed our lives and renewal of our minds, right? Like you just said, like we are a new creation. We are supposed to look differently. And so if you find yourself heavy ladened, burdened, you're worried just like the rest of the world. You have no peace at night. You barely can sleep.

You have all these problems. You really got to ask yourself, where are you putting your trust and you're hoping? Are you free from the bondage in ways? which the Lord has saved you from. Are you going back to it? These are all the questions that come into my mind. And so in your decision-making process,

sometimes your mind can be so clouded based on your decision-making already. And so, like, what am I supposed to do? Like, consult with what you've already done. Have you committed everything back to the Lord to make your path straight? And yeah, those are my two cents, Carissa. I could go on an entire rant,

but I will try to be concise. There you go. I love it. I love it. It's so true. we are not in bondage of sin anymore, like you were saying. And weighing our decisions against what the Lord is calling us to and also to Scripture does not put us further into bondage.

It actually gives us freedom like you were just saying. Right. And so we will find freedom in obedience to the Word, to the commands of Scripture, and to God's calling on our life. Just a couple more things that are so practical in these decisions that we're making. One is lean into the community that you're surrounded with. Ask yourself who can help you better understand what God's word says about a decision and go and talk to them about it.

think of who you can turn to for help have Christian friends have a mentor who you can go and discuss these things with who will point you back to what scripture says and who will pray for you and pray with you for the things that you're struggling with. I personally think that it's also really important to make sure that you're not the only one who holds the interpretation of scripture that you're having. So if I go to all of my friends and none of them think the same thing that I'm thinking about my decision, if I want to apply for this job and none of them agree that it's a good idea to do that and they don't think that it's scripturally based whatsoever, then you probably should not do that. Make sure somebody else, at least one other person backs you up and says that scripture backs you up too.

Because if you're finding nobody that agrees with you and you're leaning into your community, then that's probably not the right decision to make. Honestly, just going off of that, from the perspective of someone that really didn't have Christian community until this time of my life, I can speak with full assurance that community really does change your faith life because, you know, I came here with a strong faith and the Lord had so much grace and teaching me how to be a strong believer in the midst of a ton of people that didn't agree with my convictions and, you know, attacked my faith and all those things, you know, growing. up going to schools that really try to bring that division onto campus and stuff like that. And then coming to college and being surrounded by, you know, Carissa and just amazing women of God and everything I say to them, they give such wisdom-filled answers with scripture backgrounds and they'll pray for you. And like, it's the craziest thing I've ever experienced because that was never the case before this. And I've watched my life completely transformed

because of this influence that they have and this godly influence. And so, yeah, like if you can, you know, plug into your church, if you can find that community, I know it can be really challenging and it can be hard. But, you know, God doesn't want you to walk this faith life alone. And he has put these people around you for a reason and you can learn so much from them. And so lean into your community because a lot of times that's where you'll find your mentors, people who are older than you, who have gone through the same things. and have learned with the Lord, walk with the Lord,

and they will guide you into more understanding. And that cannot be something overlooked. It is a really big blessing to have great community. Amen. So good. Another thing that I think is super important in making decisions is don't let your emotions rule the things that you're thinking. Amen. Make sure that you know the whole story.

Make sure you have all of those stories. the facts. There's always going to be two sides to every single story. So make sure you're not rushing into a decision heavy-handed or hot-headed. And don't do it especially without consulting God's word. That's something that we're pounding into this episode. I love it. Yeah. Yeah, don't fall prey to wishful thinking. Don't fall prey to anger and wrath. And instead, lean on the Lord and helping you calm those emotions and make decisions that are aligning with his will for your life. That was really good, Carissa.

Thank you. That was really good. Thank you so much. So when you are going through those uncertainties, when you are having to make decisions, whether hard or easier, just wondering what you should do tomorrow, seek to make your goals and purpose and decisions align with God's word and God's purpose. Thank you guys so much for joining on today's podcast. Please come again next time where we'll talk about other trials

and things we have learned together about the Lord and all the ways that he's been so loving and kind to us. You are listening to the Loving Kindness Podcast on Radio Fruit Hillsdale 101.1.7 FM.