Hard Questions

Tyler, my eight year old son, came into the room to talk with me the other night. Looking very concerned, the first words out of his mouth were, “Dad, do you ever have any hard questions in life to answer?” I thought for a moment and wondered what kind of questions were going through the mind of this little third grader. In a split second I thought of things which may be plaguing his young mind…school problems, spiritual questions, or other off the wall scenarios. Isn’t it amazing how our minds can jump to crazy conclusions before we even listen? “Sure, Ty, I have tough questions to answer every day.” He responded, “Well, I have a hard decision to make tonight.” He paused for a moment…”I don’t know if I should watch Batman or Indiana Jones?” In a way I was relieved that it was not some earth shattering dilemma, but in the back of my mind I thought about how decision making gets much more complicated with age. Right now Ty is struggling between which movie he should watch, but later he will be making some tough choices in his life.Yesterday I came across a verse of wisdom written in Proverbs 16:13. It says, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” In my opinion this proverb is structured in a weird way because it implies that committing to God comes before understanding. But in reality, God allows decisions to come into our life so we will rely on Him for direction. Whenever we are faced with a tough choice, we must first commit to God’s way and then He will provide understanding. Maybe you have encountered a “fork in the road.” Pursue God’s way and He will give you understanding as you take steps of faith.