In life, we have to come to decisions. Easy decisions and hard decisions.
Easy decisions are easy. This is because easy decisions are usually things that are pleasant and things that are desires of our flesh. It is easy to decide to have a feast; it is hard to decide to have a fast. It’s easy to choose to start a nap; it’s hard to decide to start working out. It’s easy to choose to go to the beach; it’s harder to choose to catch up on chores instead.
I could list many more examples, but I think you get the picture. We understand that hard decisions are hard because, while they are almost always the right choice, they are rarely the choice we want to make. We all know vegetables and fruit are good for us, but we want cake and candy. We know exercise is good for us, but we want movies and video games.
While the examples above deal with physical realities, the hardest decisions we make daily are the ones that impact us spiritually, not physically. Because those hard decisions not only impact us during this life, but they also impact our eternity and they can often affect the hard decisions of our children, which could impact their eternities.
Think about some of the easy and hard decisions in the Bible and their resulting outcomes. Moses made the hard choice to leave Pharaoh’s house of luxury so that he could stand with the people of G-D, which ultimately resulted in the deliverance of not only the Israelites, but also a multitude of others who became free because of the power of G-D.
Daniel made the hard decision not to bow down to the king’s idol; Daniel’s spent the night with a den of lions, which resulted in the king proclaiming what we read in Daniel 6:26-27:
“I issue a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom people are to tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. ‘For He is the living God, enduring forever! His kingdom will never be destroyed, His dominion will never end. He delivers and rescues. He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions!'”
The three men from Daniel chapter 3 made the hard decision not to bow down to the king’s idol, knowing that by making that decision they would be cast into the furnace. They were miraculously protected by G-D and because of their choice, the king saw the “Fourth Man” in the fire and said what we read in Daniel 3:28:
“Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him! They defied the king’s edict and gave up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.'”
Noah made the hard decision to build the ark, even though he was mocked and ridiculed for many years. Because he did, his family was saved from the flood. David made the hard decision to face Goliath with a slingshot, even though he was a young man and Goliath was the Philistine champion wearing armor with a sword and shield.
David’s hard decision brought about the death of Goliath and the end of that war against the Philistines. Mordechai made the hard choice not to bow to Haman, which brought about a threat to all of the Jews in Persia, but resulted in the deliverance of the Jews of Persia, the death of Haman and many Persians becoming worshippers of the G-D of Israel.
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Paul made the hard choice to stay in prison and, even though he was a Roman citizen, demanded his rights as a Roman citizen to be heard in the king’s court, which enabled Paul to share Yeshua with those in the Roman government.
You will notice that each of these, and the many other hard choices that we read about in the Scriptures, resulted in temporal difficulties for those who made the hard decisions, but also resulted in G-D’s mercy being shown, G-D being glorified and many people turning their hearts to G-D.
The final hard decision I want to point out was Yeshua’s hard decision in the Garden of Gethsemane when He wept tears of blood and said, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). This resulted in Yeshua’s death on the cross, but provided atonement for all who would accept Him as Messiah.
I don’t know what hard choices lie in front of you today. What I do know is that hard choices are hard.
While it is always easier to make the easy choice, the hard choice will always show G-D’s mercy and power, and it will always result in others seeing the glory and power of G-D. Those “others” are often our children.
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Eric Tokajer is the author of Overcoming Fearlessness, What If Everything You Were Taught About the Ten Commandments Was Wrong?, With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer, Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians and Galatians in Context.
