DECISIONS
Part 4
“Making the Best of a Bad Decision”

Genesis 3:6 “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

This was the FIRST and WORST bad decision in the history of the world.

The consequences were catastrophic and eternal.

This one bad decision threw the world into chaos and opened the hatchway for trillions of tears to be shed, and just as many hearts to be broken.

Ro 5:12 “…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”

None of us will ever make a decision that bad with consequences that far reaching.

But we’ve all made decisions we wish we could go back and undo. For instance, some of our bad decisions might be:

When you’ve chosen second best
When you’ve made a selfish choice
When your choices have landed you in a deep pit
When you’ve hurt other people
When you’ve made a foolish commitment
When you’ve run from God

These and many other wrong-headed or just flat out sinful decisions are things we can all identify with.
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The thing about decisions is you don’t get a REDO.

But good news!—You can ask God to redeem them by working them for your good and His glory.
So let’s look today at how to make the most of a bad decision.

First:

I. God knew you would make them

—Jesus knew Peter would deny Him, right down to the minutest detail.

—God knew Jonah would run from his calling and prepared BEFOREHAND a great fish for a temporary hotel to make him rethink his bad decision!

“Now the Lord had prepared (appointed) a great fish to swallow Jonah.”—Jonah 1:17

—God knew that Adam and Eve would fall so “God chose him (Jesus) as your ransom long before the world began…”—1 Pet 1:20

So while others around us may be shocked at some of our decision-making, God never is.
—He KNEW you would go there before you did, and has already made plans for walking you through it if you cooperate with His grace.
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What God knows about us covers, not just bad decisions before we make them, but everything else!

Listen to David:

Ps 139:1-5 “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. 3 You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. 4 You know what I am going to say before I even say it. 5 You both precede and follow me…”

The Message: “I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too…”

In a gush of revelation, David sees that there is no getting away from God,

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your Presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.”—vs 7-8

So God knew what you and I would do before we did it.

And even if our bad decisions create a hell on earth for us, He’s there to work through it to His glory!
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Then secondly, it’s so very important that we not make a…

II. Wrong response to a bad decision

If you’ve made a really bad decision or a series of them, and now the consequences are rolling in:

—Don’t QUIT in frustration

Listen, Failure is not fatal nor final UNLESS you quit!

—Don’t DOUBLE DOWN on bad decision making

Don’t say, “Well, I’ve already messed up so I might as well completely give in and go all out with it.”

—Don’t BLAME others

We live in a victim society. Don’t become one. Own your mistakes, they’re yours!

Again, David wrote, “For I admit my shameful deed—it haunts me day and night. 4 It is against you and you alone I sinned and did this terrible thing.”—Ps 51:3-4

Notice, “I admit my deed,” “I sinned and did this terrible thing.”

Until you OWN it, you’ll never GROW from it!
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And thirdly, when you’ve made a bad decision,

III. Take it to the God of all hope

Give your bad decisions to God.

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,”

Once you REPENT, RELINQUISH your decisions to Him, and RECOMMIT yourself to His purpose and plan.

But you say, “Jeff, can God still use me?”

Think about this:

Abraham lied
Moses had a temper
Noah got drunk
Jonah ran from God
David committed adultery and murder
Peter denied the Lord
Paul killed Christians

Its not that there weren’t consequences for their decisions—there were.

But God still used all of them!
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The Prophet Isaiah predicted that Jesus’s ministry would be like this:

He gives BEAUTY for ashes
The oil of JOY for sorrow
The garment of PRAISE for the spirit of heaviness

Are you standing in the middle of a pile of ashes from bad decisions?

God says He will make something beautiful out of it IF you give it to Him and submit to His will!

He promises to first:

FORGIVE YOU

Is 1:18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
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Following forgiveness He will:

ENCOURAGE YOU

“…for I have chosen you and will not throw you away. 10 Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”—Is 41: 9-10

Keep in mind that those words were spoken to his own people that were languishing in Babylonian captivity for making countless bad, sinful decisions.

Yet He encourages them even in their sorrow and regret!
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Then, once you’ve genuinely repented and fully returned to the Lord, God will make a NEW PATH for you!

Is. 43:18-19 “So don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, 19 because I am doing something new! Now you will grow like a new plant. Surely you know this is true. I will even make a road in the desert, and rivers will flow through that dry land.”

He promises a road out and a river of refreshing!
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LISTEN: If your decisions were bad enough to burn bridges where you can’t return to where you were, He creates:

a fresh start,
a new horizon,

It may be a new OUTLET, or an open DOOR you’ve never walked through.

In His mercy God will make a new path, a new beginning for you!

And if the bad decision is not enough to burn your bridges, He gives a second chance at the same thing!—But this time with better wisdom and humility!

Whichever the case, if you:

REPENT,
RETURN,
and RELINQUISH your mistake into God’s hands,

He will take your mistake and work it out for His glory!