Redeciding decisions is almost always unfruitful. Repentance is always beneficial. Disregarding God’s clear instructions is foolish at best and deadly at worst. 

Super Bowl Sunday was at hand. The Dallas Cowboys were playing. (This may well have happened before you were born or before you were old enough to know what was going on.) A church had to decide if they would have their regular Sunday evening service. This church was not in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It was an exurb of Houston. 

The church staff gathered and decided they would not cancel church even though they wanted to. The deacons gathered and decided they could have an earlier worship service and get home in time to watch the Big Game. The church staff agreed to the compromise.

Those with the benefit of hindsight and those with the benefit of hard-earned wisdom can spot the fatal flaw without any more details. 

The surest way to irritate everyone is through redeciding a decision. Splitting the baby, as Solomon suggested, is always a bad idea. No one wins.

The anti-cancelation crowd was angry. The cancelation crowd was irritated. Who wants to attend church at 4 PM on Sunday when 6 PM is the normal time? This messes up nap time, dinner plans, and what some apparently believed was the only holy hour for evening worship. 

The good news? Nobody died. That and the Cowboys won.

This ancient life lesson is accompanied by an even more ancient life lesson. The twelve spies entered the Promised Land to check it out as Moses directed. It was more awesome than advertised. Even so, the majority report warned of danger and defeat. All of God’s mighty miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness that had happened behind them were forgotten in light of the threat in front of them. 

The minority report trusted God, believed God, and were ready to go with God. 

The majority report prevailed. They decided to go get a new leader and go back to Egypt. God was ready to kill ‘em all. (Read Numbers 14 from beginning to end to see the rest of the story.) But Moses prayed, standing in the gap between the rebels and the LORD. He reminded God of all he had done to get them to this place (verses 13-16). He reminded God of his own nature and character (verses 17-19). 

That’s good praying. This is good for us today. It’s what it means to pray in Jesus’ name. We pray based on God’s self-revelation of who he is and what he directs. 

Then the re-decision occurred. Moses said, “Wait. Stop. Don’t.” (See verses 39-43). Verses 44 and 45 are completely unsurprising for anyone who is paying attention. They didn’t lose on the last play of the game like the 49ers. They lost as soon as they stepped away from God’s instructions. 

Here’s a good suggestion: Don’t redecide decisions. Seek God first, last, and always. Seek to honor him and to serve others. Obey his clear directions. Don’t try to come up with something different or “better.” Compromise is as foolish as disobedience when you are compromising on God’s clear directions. 

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I will seek God’s will and way first, last, and always.

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Our Father, show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Amen.