I first noticed it at restaurants.

I made my family wait almost every time — taking too long to make the perfect choice from the menu. What if didn’t like it, or what if it wasn’t enough? What if I saw something later I wanted more?

Soon, I saw the same indecision sprouting up everywhere: Inner debates over choosing pillows or afternoon plans. Doubts about selecting homeschool curriculum or vacation spots. Second guesses about the design or direction of my work. Was it the best? What would people think? Would the experience or the effort be enough? I procrastinated in all things.

And the Lord spoke to me, a Solid Rock in my wavering:

You cannot choose, Kelly, because you desire too much from your choices.

You expect to be fully satisfied by a meal or a moment. You rely on your experiences and things, not Me, to fill you with joy. You need your home and your work and your family and your days be perfect to save you. You don’t believe I will lift you up, that I am enough.

My indecision betrayed my idolatry.

It happens with all false gods. The Lord had given me authority over my decisions, but I gave the power right back to them, and I ended up as their slave. I worshiped my choices, shackled in uncertainty by my hope in what they might bring me – if I only picked the right one. My heart ended up serving my own hands.

Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made (Isaiah 2:8).

To make decisions with confidence and put second-guessing behind us, we need to put our choices back in their proper place. We need to smash the idol of our hope in the outcomes.

Isaiah shows us exactly how:

He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you…And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols…you will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!” (Isaiah 30:19-21).

First, we cry out to our gracious God. We acknowledge Him as the only source of our truth and hope and joy.

Second, we learn that our cry matters more than our choices. It’s calling out to God that centers us on the path, not our behavior — it’s the one decision that frees us in all others. If we’re seeking Him, we can be confident we’ll hear His voice — this is the way, walk in it — whether we go right or go left. We don’t have to stress over daily dilemmas, because we’ll trust God to right our steps, fulfill our longings, and give us His best.

The direction we go is not as important as the direction we grow.

With God at our back, we can scatter the idols of indecision away. If He is our protector and champion, our choices no longer have to be.