so many ways to make decisions

Some people make decisions with the greatest of ease. Some people find decision making to be challenging. I’m one of the latter.

Of course, good sincere followers of Christ want God’s will and to make decisions biblically — that includes reading the Bible, praying, and seeking counsel from wise mature Christians. Yet different people give different counsel.

Biblical Decision Making Steps: Discovering God’s Will Through Biblical Decision Making has 10 steps. So does the pragmatic non-religious website eHow.com in its “How to make decisions“. To contrast, 4 Keys to Good Decision Making: How to Use Good Judgment in Decision Making has 4 keys.

This book, Decision Making and the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View by Garry Friesen, got notable attention when it first came out in 1981; a 2nd revised edition published in 2004. The Decision Making and the Will of God website has more info about Friesen’s concepts, and unpacks the traditional view about God’s will and also has a list of other books about decision making. A Review by Greg Gilbert posted at 9marks.org summarizes Friesen’s concepts.

So, while the resources above give a spiritual framework towards decision making, there may be more aspects involved in making a decision.

That is, there are many different methods and approaches to decision making, beyond the spiritual preparation. Mindtools.com links to 17 Decision making techniques, including methods called Pareto Analysis, Grid Analysis, Decision Trees, Six Thinking Hats.

What it comes down to is that life is constantly throwing many opportunities my way and I have to decide what to do. I can use all the spiritual resources available to me, and even using a suitable method to sift through the options, yet the right decision doesn’t get cranked out like an algebraic equation, a la solve for X.

There’s only so much time any of us have. At the end of the day, I have to decide. Some decisions will turn out great. Some not so much. Both are times of learning. God help us all.

How have you become a better decision maker?