By Rebecca van Noppen
You are frozen.
Your daughter has come asking for the car. You are making dinner. The phone is ringing, and you have just opened an unexpected bill from the city, demanding payment on recent street improvements shared with your neighbours.
You. Cannot. Handle. One. More. Thing.
Fight. Flight. Or Freeze.
This time you freeze. You are frozen to yet another decision to be made. The needs. The decisions. They have caused paralysis for some of us. What used to be an easy decision, is no longer that simple.
Decisions can be paralyzing. Or rather the need to make decisions can be. Talking with a friend this week, I realized this Covid season has created obstacles, and decision paralysis seems to be a part of it. I don’t know if there are statistics or research around this, but it seems to be a theme in some of the coaching work we do at More Than Enough. What used to be a simple choice is now complex because we are tired, stressed, and reaching our limit on adapting to changing situations, and with so many options we don’t seem to have the capacity to think through the process.
If you find yourself paralyzed or unable to make decisions regarding your finances, David and I have some tools that we’ve found effective in this post-Covid, still-in-Covid world. And these tools come attached to Scripture.
Trust in the Lord
Proverbs 3:5 and 6 says that we are not to lean on our own understanding and to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. (I recently wrote a book called Cultivating Trust: Finding God’s Hope and Freedom for Your Finances. Go to www.morethanenoughbooks.com to find out more about trusting God with your finances.) Acknowledging God in everything is also part of the process. Looking up to Him and literally crying out: “Father, what do I do? Help me know which way to go” are the “cry of the heart” prayers we need when a decision is before us.
Wait and Pray
There are a lot of verses in the Psalms about waiting on God. In Psalm 27:13 and 14, the Psalmist encourages us to wait on the Lord, and be strong and take heart. We are encouraged to wait and trust, because we will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. The Hebrew writer also tells us that God makes promises and cannot lie. He calls Himself trustworthy and good. Trust, pray, and wait on God to bring the answer to you. He is One who keeps His Word.
Get some sleep
Really. I mean it. Go to bed. I bet your ability to make decisions will improve a hundred-fold if you leave the decision overnight and you get some rest. Or even just take a nap. Naps are God’s awesome gift to humankind! But Psalm 3 also has some powerful advice. Many foes are coming against the Psalmist, but God is His shield. He trusts God so completely, and God is so trustworthy that the Psalmist lies down in peace and sleeps. He awakes for the Lord sustains him. So sleep in peace. God has you. God has your decisions, and if you turn to Him, He WILL NOT LEAD YOU ASTRAY. Trust Him, and trust Him again.
Eat and rest
If you are suffering from decision paralysis, go for a walk, sleep, and take time with Jesus. In Matthew 11, Jesus says “Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Jesus promises rest. Take time to sit and read His Word. Talk to Him. Be quiet and listen to Him. Consider His invitation. He is inviting you to a table full of food – good, nutritious, strength-building food that is full of love and wisdom. He wants you to sit and sleep and eat His Word. So eat, be still, and find the rest you need.
Seek wise counsel
When you struggle to make decisions, you don’t always want to talk about it. The conversations take energy. But once you have taken time with the Lord, waited, prayed, and gotten some sleep, you might be in a better state of mind to seek wise counsel. Find the people you admire. Those whose character and lifestyle are filled with love for God, love for others, and good fruit. When it comes to finances, think about those around you who have good financial habits as well. In Proverbs 19:20 and 21, God advises us to “listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days. Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand forever.”
God’s good principles still apply to us. So, as you struggle to make decisions, pick one thing from this list you can do today, and then do it again tomorrow. Then, let me know how it’s going, and send me a message at info@morethanenough.ca. I would love to share in your journey.