Royal Living - Discretion Before Decisions

Royal Living - Discretion Before Decisions

All these scriptures: New Century Version

Proverbs 25:9b-8 Because of something you have seen (and judged to represent a certain situation), do not quickly take someone to court (push for a decision). What will you do later when your neighbor proves you wrong? (and the final answer is totally different than you thought)

Proverbs 19:2-3 Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good. If you act too quickly, you might make a mistake.

People's own foolishness ruins their lives, but in their minds they blame the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust the Lord with all your heart, and don't depend on your own understanding.

Remember the Lord in all you do, and he will give you success

Email Hell

This week, there have been two streams of emails that demonstrated the wisdom of royal living. Several participants in the one are frustrated over a troublesome situation. It is not an easy fix. The issues are complicated and not understood to any significant level by any of the people in the discussion. All want it resolved. Many are ready to take action just to get the pain off of their list of things to do. The stream of vitriolic back and forth blame shifting is embarrassing.

Every person sees the situation from their pain point. It has been taken for decision without true consultation with all the neighbors. Now the person who posed a solution is seen as the cause of the situation not just a helper to resolve.

Expensive Chaos

A second situation demonstrates again how conclusion jumping can go awry. One jumped into the middle of a situation and demanded a solution. A partial solution was brought forward that was not reasonable to implement in a timely manner. It lags and lags and gets caught on other snags. A new solution will be drafted, surely. Yet no one will be happy. The root causes will still plague the situation and cause further consternation.

Wise Resolve

A client has issue with a coworker who is married to a worker. Whew! It affects business decisions and is costing the client mistakes and money. Through patience and listening and looking to the hearts of those involved, our team came up with a face-saving plan to address. Late Friday a communication came to me telling me the plan can be a big win for all. Instead of pushing for a decision, we found a way to encourage and promote friendship. Whew! Thanks, God.

Every Day Justice

There are many situations that come to mind this week alone. Each took key people discussing and some time cussing to come to joint vision. We don't like to listen, do we? We like to be right. We like to make decisions for others and then have them tell us we are right. It is not royal living. It is petty living. It is wasteful living, burns up internal energy, and isolates needed friends.

Sitting and Ducking

Just as many issues end up with analysis paralysis. Some folks don't know when to call the hand and get a decision made. That can be terminably frustrating for all. A conversation with a business partner against whom others brought accusations brought out an indecisiveness on the part of another involved. Their fence sitting and ducking of responsibility is causing all to struggle and the end client to suffer.

Royal Insight

To see into a matter before making a decision or calling for a decision brings long term resolution and productivity that lasts. It might take ten minutes or ten days or even ten months or ten years. Discretion knows when to congeal information and move. Discretion is part of royal living. To gather the facts, listen to others, make a decision, and trust the Lord to work it through to good completion is the heart of royalty.

There is no simple answer or formula to apply here. Discretion plus insight plus wisdom plus patience plus action plus trust wins the day for the royal. We will make mistakes and God will cover. Our true friends will know our heart and abide. All will prosper.

Prayer:

Father, life is so full of decisions. Situations jump in front of us all day and every day. Equip our eyes to see true. Equip our minds to think clear and with best heart to support others. Let trust of You come through as increased trust of others. Show us prosperous paths for decisions. Breed royal insight and timing into us that we might move with productive decisiveness.

Phil Larson, 405-388-8037'
508 Tumbleweed Dr.
Yukon, Oklahoma 73099