‘Without faith it is impossible to please Him.’ Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
When making important decisions, especially when they can affect the lives of others, the Bible says you should do two things. First, count the cost (see Luke 14:28). That means you should evaluate and investigate, and you should seek guidance and counsel. ‘The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.’ (Proverbs 12:15 NIV) How certain should you be before you move forwards? It’s unlikely we’ll ever be completely certain about taking up an opportunity—until after it’s well and truly past.
What are you waiting for? A guarantee that you won’t make mistakes? That you won’t be criticised or experience embarrassment? If so, you will get nowhere. When you have done all that wisdom demands, you must trust God and take a faith-based risk. If you don’t, you will end up living with regret.
In a research study done by two Cornell University psychologists, they learned that time is a major factor in what we regret. We typically regret our actions over the short term. But over the long term, we are inclined to regret our inactions. The study found that in an average week, action regrets were somewhat higher than inaction regrets—53% to 47%. But when people think about their lives as a whole, inaction regrets exceed action regrets 84% to 16%. In other words, you won’t regret the errors you made as much as you will the God-ordained opportunities you missed. So, go ahead and take a faith-based risk.
SoulFood: Josh 8:30–10:43, Lk 19:28–40, Ps 103:13–22, Prov 23:1–3
Renungan Hari Ini [The Word for Today] is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©