THE DECISIONS THAT MAKE OR BREAK

There’s a proverb that reads like this:

He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,⁸ for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. ¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.¹¹ Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

Proverbs 2:8-11

I used to hate those car commercials where the dealer slogan has something to do with, “What are you going to do with all the money you save?” Laughing, I used to sit there and cynically snicker at the gimmick. They were promising to give you something but charging a price they could afford to charge and still make a profit.On the other hand, there’s discretion and wisdom.

I discovered this proverb a few days ago and have read others like it but it resonated when I thought, “We are actually protected by the decisions we make or don’t make.” Right now, stop and think about the next big decision you need to make. And avoid the trivial as you think. Who cares what color shoes you wear today. What’s more important are questions like:

How did the decision to_____________ affect my life?

When I chose to ____________, why did I lose the trust of ___________?

Could it have appeared selfish when I refused to __________?

I find that these are the more pressing self-interrogatives. The proverb makes sense in the least. It refers to a “HE” who poses as a shield and guard under one condition; make upright decisions. Choose right activity as opposed wrong activity. Operate with the well being of more than yourself in mind. If we believe in miracles, does the application of wisdom not qualify as one?

If you’re an educator, a parent, a coach, etc. you know well the difficulty of guiding people. If you’ve ever been young, you know how fun it was to finally get your turn. We all got or are getting our turn to be young, impetuous, self-absorbed. But we’re hard pressed to show examples where recklessness and conceit have yielded protection. Don’t both of those attributes usually make others hate the shoes you stand in? All the time we abandon virtue and ethic in favor of situational ethics – determining right and wrong on a case-by-case basis according to our own whims. It’s always going to be convenient to not question our decision making. We might say, “Why would we spend too much time worrying about discretion. Couldn’t we overthink our lives?” Truth is, very few people over think anything. Most do quite the contrary. No questions, no discretion. And if the axiom of Proverbs holds, no discretion means no protection. The Proverb goes on to say in verse 12, Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse. It’s not the ancient words that pose the problem. It’s probably more our willingness to do what we know is right. How committed are we to discretion and knowledge? How much perspective do we have? From part-time employee to Barack Obama, aren’t we all 1-2 decisions away from success and failure? Maybe the goal is to keep asking ourselves questions when we’d rather opt for what makes us feel good. With questions come confrontation and truth is a good rendezvous.