I was walking with a friend who was in one of those crossroads moments when decisions have to be made. She told me the situation and then said, “I wish God would tell me to do this or do that. Or whatever you do, do not do that!”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “What I’d give for an hour with Jesus!” My response is always the same: “You can have an hour with Jesus. Just open the Bible. He’ll meet you every time.”

And while God doesn’t tell us if we should take a specific job over another, he does tell us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven rather than earthly treasures. And if taking a job means our earthly relationships suffer at the expense of having more toys, well, the decision isn’t that hard.

And when we struggle with decisions for the future, God says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:25-27,33). He holds the future. If we look to him, not the world, he will give us what we need each day.

When our relationships are strained, God teaches us, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). When we embrace this as our attitude, relationships tend to go fairly well. If they don’t, we remember the apostle Paul’s words, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). Sometimes it’s not possible. But if we’ve done what we can, we can commit that relationship to God and move on.

And when we are in God’s Word and still not sure what to do with the situations that present themselves, James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (1:5). We can pray for God to make the right or better path clear. He almost always does. Sometimes he opens or closes doors. Sometimes he shows us our sin. He allows us to see that greed or selfishness is driving our decision. Sometimes he shows us another person’s heart, and we realize their intentions are not what we thought.

Even the really, really hard things get easier. God assures us we can cast all our anxiety on him because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). That means if we’ve prayed and come to a decision, we can go to God and expectantly pray: “Lord, we’ve asked for your wisdom, and we think this is the right path to take. If we’ve discerned in error, protect us and help us to amend what we can. Help us to glorify you whatever happens so we can be a testimony to the outside world watching.”

And then we go forward, learning along the way.

When we seek God first, care more about people than things, and use our time, talent, and treasure for the sake of God’s kingdom, we win even if we lose by worldly standards. But even then, God reminds us not to worry. Hebrews 12:1-3 encourages us: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Jesus laid down his life, looking like a criminal to everyone in Jerusalem that day. He took the path of greatest resistance to bring us to eternal glory.

It’s so much easier to do what we need to do when we know what we need to do. And when we are in the Word, those choices become clearer because we’ve already chosen to honor God. And that’s the only choice that matters.