When You’ve Made a “Wrong” Decision

A few months ago I made a decision. At the time I thought it was the right decision. Now, I have my doubts.  In the scheme of things, it wasn’t in any way a life-altering decision, though it was important.  Nor was it a matter of sin or disobedience. Nor did I have the wrong motives for deciding as I did. It was just a matter of taking the wrong fork in the road.

For the past few weeks I’ve been going over that decision in my mind, replaying how and why I made it, and wishing I had made a different choice. But today the light bulb went on and I realized an important truth I too often forget:  God always redeems my “wrong” decisions when I submit them to Him in faith.

It’s true. I can look back on many decisions that, although perhaps wrong in my mind at the time, were nonetheless eventually redeemed by God.

Now that I’m past the regret stage of that recent decision, I can look forward with anticipation to how God will redeem my choice. See, when facing an important decision, it doesn’t matter so much which choice we make if it’s a decision made with full trust in God—either at the time of the decision or at some point afterward. In my case, I made the decision hastily. If I had waited longer, I might have made the “right” decision.  But now I’ve come to the place where, realizing my mistake, I can shift gears from focusing on my wrong choice and instead trust God with my “mistake.” I know by faith that God turns any wrong decision into the right decision.

Is there a wrong decision you’ve made—either recently or in the distant past?  No worries. It’s time to let go of whatever feelings you’re harboring about that decision (guilt, regret, anger, self-doubt, etc.) and be free to watch God bring full redemption out of that decision. I want to encourage you to offer up your entire situation—the decision and its aftermath—to God in prayer. Then just wait and watch…in faith. God will keep His promise to redeem.

I just hope I remember this the next time I make a poor decision.

“Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer” (Psalm 78:35).