Decisions are made every day. In fact, most of make hundreds of decisions each day but what about the decisions we are putting off or if you please make the decision to make not decision? That is called “indecisiveness” and that is something that will hurt us in the long run.
Granted there are times we suffer decision fatigue, as when we are tired and have been making decisions all day then we get home and need something to eat and instead of turning to something good for us we quickly fall into the trap of quick and easy. That’s decision fatigue but that’s not what I’m talking about. Indecisiveness is just a refusal to go with a decision for any number of reasons. It could be just plain procrastination, or it could be fear of making the wrong choice. Regardless of what lies behind the choice of making no choice is, it’s not good to be indecisive.
There are also times when you are weighing out the decision you are making as you seek the Lord’s guidance for what is the right choice. That is not a time of indecision, that is called seeking wisdom from God.
James 1:5–8 (ESV) — 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Notice the label of the indecisive individual is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Notice also what the indecisive individual brings upon himself; he will not receive anything from the Lord. Obviously, to act in faith is a decision. To step make and refuse to act in faith is also a decision. To seek for wisdom from God, weighing out the choices, consulting God in prayer and seeking His mind through the word as well as the counsel of others is not indecisiveness. To refuse to act upon the wisdom and the direction God clearly shows you is refusing to act in faith.
Take another look above at how the indecisive person is described as the wave of the sea driven and tossed. Consider that description of the indecisive and how God applies it elsewhere as in the wicked and the believer who is not grounded in sound doctrine.
Isaiah 57:20–21 (ESV) — 20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Ephesians 4:11–14 (ESV) — 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
God means for us to go forward in faith and not doubt. That means we are not making decisions in a thoughtless manner; we are seeking the will of God but when the way is plan, we act. To be indecisive is to decide to make no decision which is a sign of what the Bible calls a sluggard. Notice how the sluggard is loses on account of his indecisiveness:
Proverbs 13:4 (ESV) — 4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 20:4 (ESV) — 4 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
It’s time to be recognize our indecisiveness as the decision to make no decision so that as we bear the consequences of our indecisiveness, we’ll understand the fault falls upon us. Instead of indecisiveness, let’s be reasonable and seek God’s wisdom, His help and guidance then act in faith.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker
