Decision Overload
I have a friend who wears the same shirt every day.
Well, not the same shirt exactly. The same style of shirt—a blue and white crosshatched button-down from L.L. Bean. He does it to simplify his life. A few years ago he got tired of having to make a decision every morning about what he should wear to work. So he looked online for a comfortable shirt that flattered him and bought seven. He made one decision that day that eliminated hundreds of other decisions in the future.
His wife isn’t very happy about it, by the way. She says it would be nice to see a little variety in his wardrobe in the family pictures.
We make hundreds of decisions every day. What should I eat for breakfast? What should I wear? The kids want to go to a friend’s house—should I let them? Do we have time and money for a vacation? Can I squeeze that extra project in for the boss? At the grocery store, which of the dozens of brands of cereal should I buy? (And should I even be feeding my kids cereal?) Whole milk, 2 %, skim, almond milk, oat milk, or soy? Mom called—can we come this weekend? Demands bleep at us every five minutes through our phones on social media, in texts, in emails, on phone calls. The doctor says I need to lose a few pounds. Will I go for a walk? When? Which news network will I watch? What will I stream? Should I go to my child’s teacher about a problem at school, or talk to the principal? When am I going to read my Bible? When am I going to pray? What should I give?
Decision overload. I know you feel it. We all do.
Why do decisions stress us out? I can think of at least four reasons:
1. We’re trying to make decisions we’re unqualified to handle. We want to help. When people come to us for solutions, we feel obligated to comply. We don’t want to say, “I’m sorry, I don’t really know how to help you with that.” It feels rude. We start to own other people’s problems. The stress begins to weigh on us.
2. We’re procrastinating because we’re afraid our decision may be wrong. Every decision is a fork in the road that sets you on a new course and eliminates the alternatives. As long as we make decisions according to God’s will, we shouldn’t worry about the other possible paths we could have chosen. “What might have been” doesn’t exist. Do what you think is best in the given moment, making sure your decision is holy, and forget the rest.
What’s better? Committing in one direction and putting the alternatives in your rearview mirror, or standing at the crossroads, frozen by fear?
3. We know what we should do, but we don’t want to deal with the consequences. There’s always a tradeoff. If you enjoy a bowl of ice cream, you will have to contend with the extra calories. If you choose to spend time with your family instead of taking on an extra project at work, you may disappoint your boss. If you don’t go to the party, your friends might make fun of you. Every decision has consequences, and sometimes the consequences make life difficult.
4. We haven’t figured out what we want. Good decision-makers set priorities. Priorities are big decisions that contain a lot of little decisions. For example, I knew a professional guitarist who never worked on cars because he couldn’t risk injury to his hands. After he chose to make a living as a musician, a lot of other decisions fell into place.
No decision eliminates more choices than the decision to become a Christian. “If anyone would come after me,” Jesus says, “let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). When we choose Christ, we deny ourselves. He starts making decisions for us.
Paul traveled to many new countries and established new churches all over the world, but he never viewed his mission work as a choice. “Necessity is laid upon me,” he said. “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16).
When it comes to the biggest decision about whether to follow Christ, no one sits on the fence. There is no indecision. Not putting God first is a decision in itself. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matt. 6:24). A few verses later, he reassures us that if we choose to make God our master, all the small decisions that burden us will be resolved: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (v. 33).
Are you suffering from decision overload? Maybe you can get some relief by cleaning out your closet like my friend did. More than likely, the problem requires more drastic measures than a change in wardrobe. Seek God and his kingdom first, and it will simplify your life. Let the ruler of the earth make the decisions.
Drew Kizer