3 Compass Questions For ANY Situation

Somebody said, “the easiest thing to decide is what to do if you were in someone else’s shoes.”

The problem with that is we never are.

So, how do you make good decisions?

Better yet, how can you make decisions – whether a decision about life direction, a response in conflict, or a situational transaction – that will result in the best outcome possible with what you know at the time?

I want to give you 3 questions that will help you, in any situation, to get your bearings very quickly, setting you on the path toward the successful outcomes that are objectively best (and that you ultimately want).

Often, only one of these questions are needed to make a decision.

I also submit to you: most of our trouble comes from ignoring even one of these questions.

Here they are:

1. Will it glorify God?

The Westminster Confession sums it up nicely: it is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The glory of God is why we exist. Period. Bringing all of life under His lordship will bring God’s glory to bear on any decision.

2. Is it wise?

This is a biggie. Andy Stanley wrote an entire book around this one question a number of years ago [The Best Question Ever]. Now, the prerequisite is question #1 above, essentially because “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This question Is it wise? MUST be biblically informed. Assuming that, this compass question can clear the fog pretty quickly.

3. What will be the impact on those in my care or under my leadership?

This question has a little bit of the golden rule built into it and gets us thinking about what’s in the decision for others instead of only ourselves.

This question is third for a reason, however. Fact is, sometimes acting on the answers to questions #1 and #2 above may make some folks under our care or leadership not-so-happy. Man-pleasing for it’s own sake is never endorsed by Scripture. And I’m not endorsing it here.

However, it’s important to keep in mind the needs and maturity of others who are directly — or even indirectly — impacted by our decisions. Looking for the win-win outcome keeps us from being inordinately self-focused. A careful answer to question #1 and #2 will often make this question moot, but it’s always good to test this angle before stepping forward.

Living an effective life isn’t really a secret if we just think first about who we are, whose we are, and why we’re here in the first place in the face of a difficult situation or decision. These questions get to the heart of that.

A lot of heartache and regret can avoided in these three simple queries. More success and effectiveness can be achieved by the same.

Keep these questions in your mind at all times. They’ll sit like little counselors in your psyche, ready to grant you sure footing faster than you can say “oops.”

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Finally breaking the silence, she whispered her question, “Whatcha thinking about, Hon?”

Her husband shrugged a little and said, “I’m trying to figure out how they can build a crib like this for just $39.95.”

With all that’s going on in the world right now, and knowing that God is watching all of it, maybe you’ve wondered, “what is God thinking about right now?”

There could be much speculation in the answer to that question but there is one answer that I don’t have to guess about and neither do you.

Souls.

God still has the world on his heart.

He still “so loves the world” to the point of having offered his perfect Son as a sacrifice.

God doesn’t need people.

But he loves people.

And because he loves people he sends people – gospel-bearing people like you and me – to let them know that.

That’s why the “into all the world” part of the Great Commission still matters to God.

Because God doesn’t just love American middle-class churchgoers.

He loves the poor, the rich, the up-and-in and the down-and-out, the working class, the lower class, skipped-the-class and even the got-no-class.

He loves the red, the yellow, black and white, mixed, neutral, melatonin-altered, albino and the heavily tattooed among all the above.

He love the black-haired, white-haired, blonde-haired, fake blonde-haired and striped neon-haired. (And yes, no-haired. Don’t email me.)

Jesus still has something to say to everyone about the specific way in which he has expressed his love for them.

But the formula hasn’t changed.

And here it is from Romans 10 (NIV):

How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Here it is in my own words:

The less that go, the less that hear.

The less that hear, the less believe.

The less that believe, the less call on That Name.

The less that call on That Name, the more that perish forever.

All because so many chose not to go.

The church offers the training, the resources, the courses, the steps, the materials. Everything.

Everything but the choice.

Only you can offer that.

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“It’s just my cross to bear, I guess.”

I understood what she meant and I certainly sympathized with her involuntary suffering she was currently undergoing.

But hers was not a cross to bear. It would be more accurately viewed as a thorn .

If we’re going to handle either one well, we need to understand the difference.

A cross is different than a thorn. To qualify as a “cross” it must be:

1. voluntary (chosen by you)
2. vicarious (on behalf of another)
3. redemptive (bringing the other closer to Christ)

Jesus’ cross was all of these, of course.

What that means for you and me is that when I choose a difficult situation or activity that is beneficial to others over and above myself (vicarious) while having in mind the goal of bringing the one who benefits toward a deeper/higher relationship to God, then that, my friend, is a cross I bear.

However a thorn is different.

A thorn is a difficult situation, circumstance or infirmity that is…

1. given by the Lord Himself,
2. designed to produce a virtue over and against its opposite (a vice),
3. a blessing to the point that were it not for the presence of the thorn and God’s promised accompanying grace, the recipient would be far worse off without it in the areas of life that matter most. (See 2 Corinthians 12)

As spiritual as Paul was, he asked that his thorn be removed. Haven’t you? God only replied, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Paul’s resulting declaration is that he can actually rejoice in this kind of thorn; and that in his weakness he finds God’s ever-present strength.

Bottom line: the presence of the thorn produces more in your life for the Lord than its removal. That’s why God has it there.

Are you wrestling with God over a thorn? It’s a situation you didn’t choose. A problem you didn’t cause nor ask for.

But in God’s sovereign grace and love, He has chosen for you what you would not, and in so doing – with infinite wisdom – He leverages the thorn to produce something in your life, something precious, that would be produced no other way.

Take heart, beloved.

Every cross and every thorn leads to a promised crown.