Decisions, Decisions

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”  Joel 3:14

Joel was one of the minor Old Testament prophets who foretold about the future judgment of the ungodly, much as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets.  In his writing, the valley of decision represented the collective gathering of the wicked as they await the doom that is to fall on them.  The most important decision that one can make concerns his or her future eternity.

However, I want to focus on that word “decision” as it applies to our everyday lives.  A church friend and I had a discussion a while back about the ramifications of the decisions that we all make on a daily basis.  I have often thought that a person’s life is a product of all the decisions that he or she makes–bad ones and good ones.  The friend with whom I was chatting emphasized the far-reaching importance of the choices that we make and how those choices can affect future generations.  A bad decision can cause us grief for a long time, and a good decision can make the road ahead somewhat smoother.

We live in an age of instant everything.  We don’t like to be faced with decisions, but many times we have already made a decision but hesitate to act on it for fear it is the wrong choice.  Sometimes we “pass the buck”, so to speak, hoping that someone else will decide for us so that we won’t suffer the blame if things go awry.  I have always found it humorous to listen to a couple trying to decide where to go to eat.  The husband says to the wife, “We’ll go wherever you want to go.”  She says, “OK, let’s go to The Olive Garden.”  He says, “I don’t want to go there.  Let’s go somewhere else.”  Then she suggests another place and ditto.  After a couple more places are suggested, she says, “Well, where do you want to go?”  He says, “Oh, it doesn’t matter; wherever you want to go.”  Of course, these kinds of decisions are not life and death situations, but they can cause some irritation between folks.

People are prone to make snap decisions based on expediency rather than what’s best for the long term.  In other words, “let’s just do it this way and hope that it works out.”  In a recent TV program, the male lead character said to the female lead character, “You don’t have a choice about the matter.”  She replied, “There’s not a situation about which I don’t have a choice.”  Is that true?  There are a few things about which we don’t have a choice, like our birth, but once we get old enough to walk, we pretty much do what we want until Mom stops us.  As we get older, we are faced everyday with all types of decisions.  There are situations where a quick decision must be made, but all other choices should be carefully considered as to the possible outcome and effects of our decision.  We can be forgiven for bad choices, but we cannot always escape the consequences.