Healthy Decision Making

And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.” 1 Chronicles 14:10

 When I’m hungry and it’s time to eat, I need to make a decision. What should I eat? I can answer this question in one of two ways. I can ask myself what would taste best to me. What do I want? Or I can ask myself what would be good for me. What do I need? Any single bad decision may not be that consequential, but if I repeatedly follow my appetite, the result will be unhealthy. Alternatively, if I learn to ask – What should I eat? – then the result will be healthy. It’s a subtle difference in language, but the difference in reality is profound. A life made of good decisions looks radically different than a lifetime of bad decisions.

This, of course, isn’t just about food. My primary life problem hasn’t been a life-altering drug addiction. Drugs were just the most obvious symptom of my primary problem. My primary problem is that I’m prone to make decisions based on what I want. Maybe this isn’t such a big deal for some, but I naturally crave that which is unhealthy. I don’t naturally like broccoli. I like donuts. So, if I follow my appetite in all my decisions, I self-destruct.

Recovery then, has meant learning to make decisions based not on that which is appetizing to me, but on that which is healthy for me. When I get up in the morning, instead of asking – What do I want to do? – I must now learn to ask – What does God want me to do?

This behavior is modeled by King David in today’s passage, and it’s what made David such a great man. In the story, when Israel’s security was threatened by the Philistines, David repeated a behavior that defined his life. David went to God, asking – What should I do?

This same question should define the Christian life. Daily – or a thousand times a day – we should be asking ourselves, What does God want me to do? So much of our self-inflicted misery could be avoided if we simply learned to just stop and ask God. Porn? What does God want? We don’t have to hear an audible voice from heaven to know the answer to such questions. We know the answer.

What do I want? What does God want? My way is disaster. God’s way is life.