Bad Decisions
Bad Decisions Click Title to Download
Does it concern you that good men in the Bible sometimes made bad decisions? It surely concerns me. The concern, obviously, is that if they made bad decisions in their days, what’s to prevent us from making bad decisions in our days? We need to learn from their mistakes. And we need to take heed that just because we may have made some good decisions in the past, we may not make good decisions in the future. We are going to preach, then, on how to avoid making some bad decisions.
You’ll make bad decisions when:
You neglect to pray before you decide – Jos 9:14. Israel made a league with the men of Gibeon when they saw, by all indications, that the Gibeonites were men from a very far country, Jos 9:9. Israel could have made peace with them if they were from far away, Deut 20:10-11, 15. But after making a league with them, Joshua discovered their wile, Jos 9:3-6. He found out that they were actually close neighbors, Jos 9:16.
This bad decision was the result of not asking counsel at the mouth of the Lord. To avoid bad decisions you need to pray until you know the mind of the Lord in the matter, 2 Sam 5:19, 23-24. And then don’t go against what God directs you to do.
You rely upon men rather than God – 2 Chr 16:2-3, 7. Asa was a king whose heart was “perfect all his days”, 2 Chr 15:17. Yet, near the end of his reign he made the decision to pay Benhadad, the Syrian king, to break his league with Israel. His desire was for Syria to attack Israel in order to protect Judah’s northern border. This was a bad decision.
Asa, earlier in his reign, had cried unto the Lord when Judah was attacked by Ethiopia. Judah was outnumbered 1,000,000 to 580,000. And yet, because they relied upon the Lord, God smote the Ethiopians and delivered Judah, 2 Chr 14:8-13. Asa should have relied upon the Lord against Israel, too, but he didn’t. Instead, he sent Benhadad gold and silver from the treasures of the house of the Lord. When the prophet, Hanani, reproved him for this decision, Asa got mad and locked him up, 2 Chr 16:7-10.
What went wrong with Asa? He had always relied upon the Lord before. He had taken away the idols and renewed the altar of the Lord, 2 Chr 15:8. He led Judah to enter into a covenant to seek the Lord God, 2 Chr 15:12. And he removed his idolatrous mother from being queen, 2 Chr 15:16.
But toward the end of his reign, when he had wealth and influence, he relied upon his resources and his associations rather than the Lord. He obviously didn’t think he needed the Lord. You will make bad decisions when you quit relying upon the Lord and start relying on other men, instead. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man”, Ps 118:8.
You unequally yoke yourself with unbelievers – 2 Chr 18:1. Jehoshaphat joined affinity with Ahab, meaning that he married into the family. He married Ahab’s sister. That was a bad decision. When Jehoshaphat first took the throne, “he strengthened himself against Israel”, 2 Chr 17:1, which was the right thing to do, since Israel was Judah’s enemy. In addition, he didn’t worship Baalim, he sought the Lord, he took away the high places and the groves, and he sent priests and Levites throughout the kingdom to teach the book of the law, 2 Chr 17:3-9.
Nevertheless, in order to attempt to reunite the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel, Jehoshaphat married the sister of the king of Israel. After fighting in a battle with Ahab, Jehu, the seer, proclaimed to Jehoshaphat that the Lord’s wrath was on him for helping the ungodly and loving them that hate the Lord, 2 Chr 19:1-2.
To avoid bad decisions, you need to obey God and be “not unequally yoked together with unbelievers”, 2 Cor 6:14-18; Jas 4:4. When you attempt to put things together that God wants to keep separate, you can make yourself an enemy of God. Partnerships and marriage are prime examples. You must make decisions according to the Lord’s will and not according to an unsaved partner’s will or an unsaved spouse’s will that is contrary to God’s will. Work God’s way, not the world’s way.
You neglect truth preached by God’s preacher – 2 Chr 18:16-27. When Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to fight with him at Ramothgilead, Jehoshaphat pledged his support, 2 Chr 18:2-3. Before going into battle, though, Jehoshaphat asked Ahab to inquire of the Lord, 2 Chr 18:4. When Micaiah, the hated prophet, 2 Chr 18:7, prophesied, Jehoshaphat and Ahab got the Lord’s answer. Yet, Jehoshaphat went to Ramothgilead to fight against the Syrians, even though he was warned by Micaiah that the king of Israel would die in that battle. That was a bad decision.
Ahab and Jehoshaphat both neglected the truth preached by the preacher and went into battle anyway. Jehoshaphat even went into the battle dressed in his own robes, 2 Chr 18:29. Jehoshaphat would have been killed by the enemy if the Lord had not intervened, 2 Chr 18:31.
To avoid bad decisions, listen carefully to good preaching and follow what you hear. The Lord uses good preaching to give you direction in your life. But the preaching won’t do you any good if you don’t follow it. “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves”, Jas 1:22.
Conclusion: Bad decisions can be made, even after you have made many good decisions. To avoid bad decisions remember to pray before you decide, rely upon God rather than men, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and listen to and follow good preaching.