Revelation 16:7
“And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”
It can never be stressed enough the power of one decision. One decision to trust Christ will determine one’s eternity. One decision to marry someone will determine ones future for good or bad. One decision with finances will determine ones financial success or failure. All it takes is one decision that leads someone down the road of blessing or heartache. You are only one decision away from making a life-changing decision; therefore, you would be wise to be careful in making each decision.
If you are going to make wise decisions, then you need some guidelines on which to base those decisions. Who better to copy in decision making than God? In the verse above, God shows us His guidelines for making a decision. It says, “… true and righteous are thy judgments.” The word “judgments” is literally talking about decisions made. God shows us what He bases His decisions on.
First, He based His decisions on truth. The very first thing you must always ask yourself when making a decision is, what do the Scriptures say concerning this decision? Every decision you make must be based off truth. There is a right and wrong with every decision. Years ago a man told me I needed to develop a gray area in my decision making. If I would have listened to this man, I would not be in the position I am right now. There can be no gray areas in decision making. It is either right or wrong, and right and wrong must be determined from the Scriptures. Be careful that you don’t twist truth because your life’s circumstances have changed. When you twist truth to justify your changing circumstances in life, then you are turning truth into a lie. Every decision must be based off the truth of God’s Word.
Second, God bases His decisions off righteousness. The word “righteous” is talking about right acts. Will the decision you make cause you to perform right acts? In other words, will your decision cause you to do more or less for God? A decision that will cause you to do less for God is not right. God’s direction is always forward. A decision that causes you to make a lateral move is not a good decision. A decision that causes you to step back in righteous acts is not good. Every decision you make must be a decision that will cause you to do more righteous acts.
Third, God bases His decision on the affect it will have in the future. Verse 5 says, “…Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.” You will notice that God judged according to how He made decisions in the past, and by how it affected the future. Every decision will affect the future for good or bad. Just because a decision is good today doesn’t mean that it will be good tomorrow. You always have to ask yourself where the next generation will take your decisions. This should be a vital consideration in your decision making process. You don’t want to make a decision that benefits you today but adversely affects tomorrow’s generation. Think of tomorrow’s consequences before you make each decision.
These three principles will help you in most every decision. If God used these three principles to guide His decisions, then you cannot fail to copy His model. These principles will help you to make decisions that will keep you from regret in the future.