Is there a difference between a making a choice and making a decision? There are experts who tell us an average person makes about 2,000 choices every hour or around 35,000 per day. If this is true, then immediately one must realize a high percentage of them are either unconscious, habit-based or insignificant. You could also call them decisions. More precisely, however, a decision is based on a “reasoning process reached after thoughtful consideration”. Choice always involves two or more possibilities or alternatives. The decisions one makes are greatly influenced by the results of many, many previous choices. Whether you choose to think of these two words as synonymous or complimentary, the fact is that “one’s choices and decisions play a major role in who you are and will become.”
As we follow the story of Abraham’s life in the Old Testament, it is easy to see how a life-time of making both excellent and poor choices enabled him to make a very wise decision on behalf of his son, Isaac, in his later years. At this point in his life, Abraham’s decision to send his loyal servant to his homeland was certainly wise. With clear instructions and his own trust in God’s providence and provision, this emissary discovered how God heard his prayers and clearly provided the woman of His choice to go back with him and to willingly marry Isaac. All along the way, this servant experienced what it means to ask and then to trust that the Lord God would guide and direct not only him, but those to whom he was sent.
How have your simple and often spontaneous or instantaneous choices helped you to “acknowledge God in all your ways so He can direct your paths”? (Proverbs 3: 6) What would you say are some of the best decisions you have made in the last few months?
