A Word About Opinions

In our first year of marriage, my wife and I were finishing up our educations. The old car we were driving had been a faithful mode of transportation, but it finally decided it had had enough. It was totally worn out, and began to cost more in repairs than it was really worth. It was time to get another car.

Money was tight. We didn’t have enough money just go pay cash for an automobile. We’d have to go into debt and finance our transportation.

I remember calling my dad back in Illinois to ask his opinion; what did he think about borrowing money to buy a car. He asked me questions about the old car. He asked me questions about the two or three used cars I was contemplating buying. He asked me about my ability to make car payments. They were open-ended questions that helped me think, evaluate, and consider.

After he’d finished asking his questions, I asked him a question. “So,” I asked my dad, “do you think I should go ahead and get one of these cars? Should I get the newer one, or the one that has more miles on it, but seems to be a nicer ride?”

At that point, my dad said something I never forgot.

He said, “I think there are times when we definitely need divine guidance to help us decide what to do. There are other times when the Lord lets us choose. He expects us to use our common sense and do what we believe is best. It’s sort of like the Lord saying, ‘You go ahead.  You can choose. I don’t have an opinion. I’ll be with you on the other side of the choice you make, whatever it is.”

When I hung up the phone, I realized something important. My dad hadn’t given me his opinion. He could have. But he didn’t. He left me with the responsibility for my decision. What I needed to do was trust the Lord, and decide. Truth is my deciding muscles weren’t very developed at that point in my life.

I wanted a clear answer, something definite I could lean on. But instead, I got an opportunity to decide, and then trust God to meet me in that decision. Looking back, it was more than a conversation about cars from my earthly dad. I experienced a lesson in how God develops His children.

It’s not a trick. It’s a provision for opportunity.

God once encouraged King Solomon to make a request. “Ask for whatever you want me to give you,” said the Lord. Solomon got to choose, using the mind and heart God had given him. And his deep devotion to the Lord and his humility prompted him to choose wisdom as the gift he wanted from God. He got wisdom, of course, and a lot more. You can read the story in I Kings, chapter 3.

There are times in our faith journey when God makes His direction obvious. He closes doors, sends nudges, or arranges circumstances so we can’t miss what He has in mind for our lives. But as faith matures, He doesn’t stop guiding; He guides differently. He allows the wisdom He’s been shaping in us to influence our decisions.

Perhaps one of our greatest indicators that trust and faith are growing is a confidence to make wise choices, and believe He’ll be right in the thick of whatever we decide, no matter what.