What is the driving force behind the decisions you make? Do you operate out of fear and anxiety? Are you able to discern factual input, trust God, and not get swept up in your own emotions? Are you quick to react (maybe even overreact) or do you get stuck in analysis paralysis weighing every possible option? Perhaps it varies depending on the circumstance and how big the decision is. The Bible is very clear that we are not to operate out of fear. There are 365 scriptuers in the Bible telling us not to fear. It is no accident that there is one for every single day of the year. God knew our human character would be swayed by emotion and we would need these reminders – every day.

Proverbs 26:28 Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

I was raised to view every day through the lens of worry. If the situation didn’t lend itself to producing anxiety I would quickly conjur up a list of “what ifs” to fullfill the need to have something to be concerned over. In my late teens I couldn’t sleep unless I had a problem to ponder until I fell asleep. If I didn’t have a challenge to overcome I could’t sleep! How ridiculous is that? As time went along I realized that was not a good bedtime strategy.

Years later when I was determining whether I had the nerve to start my own business I was brought to the reality of just how much I was basing every decision off of emotion. I wasn’t looking at facts and I wasn’t trusting God in any way, shape or form. My parents were terrified that I would leave a paying job to become an entrepreneur and provided ZERO encouragement. In short, I’m fairly confident they both thought I had completely lost my mind! When I talked to my mother-in-law, she told me to crunch the numbers and determine if I could make the money back within a couple years. If yes, then do it. If no, then don’t. Period. I’m pretty sure it was less than a 3 minute discussion. The bottom line was, it is numbers – does it make financial sense or doesn’t it? There was no emotion. This is business.

I remember being left speechless with the stark contrast of how differently our families approached life’s uncertainties. I had listened to my parents drone on for what seemed like hours about the unknowns of the situation and in a couple minutes outside of that emotion I had the real questions I needed the answers to. It was a moment in time that began to transform how I thought. It began to shape my mind to operate off of facts and not be caught up in my emotions and fear. (As a side note if you need a mindshift towards being an entrepreneur The Millionaire Next Door is the best book I have ever read.)

Ephesians 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 

Let’s live our lives out of wisdom, not foolishness. Pray regarding the decisions before you. Pray for it to be revealed to you whether the opportunity presented to you is biblical. If it isn’t, it is pretty obvious that is a deal breaker. Stand firm in your faith and God’s revealed wisdom to you and don’t be ruled by your feelings. I believe that God created us to have emotions and to feel deeply. I also believe that God created us to not be dictated by our flesh.  

Romans 8:5-6 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.