I’m not a ‘motivational speaker.’ I don’t like modern fortune-cookie-like proverbial sayings. I tend to think they smack of moralism. But every once in a while I will come across a good one.

Recently, I listened to a talk by Peyton Manning on ‘leadership’ (HERE). This is a statement I have heard him say several times over the past year and I think it is worth sharing. He says that during his decision-making process as an NFL free agent last year he kept this idea before him:

“Be determined to make your decision the right decision.”

This idea means that, while you certainly want to make the ‘right decision’ initially, the more important element in decision making is that you be ready to do the work necessary, after the fact, to make the initial decision turn out right. Decisions are not so much right at the actual moment of the decision. Their rightness (or wrongness) will be shown by how the effects of the decision play out. And much of that playing out is in your own hands.

Three texts from biblical wisdom literature come to mind:

• Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

• Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

• Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

St. Augustine famously wrote, ‘Love God and do as you please.’ Each of these texts, and the words of Augustine, demonstrate something about the the action of God as is it relates to our choices. The principle that I have found helpful is this: Trust in God beforehand, delight in him beforehand. If you are trusting in him, if you are in submission to his Word, if you are in communion with him, then you do not have to wring your hands wondering what his will is. Make a decision, commit it to God in prayer, and be determined to do your part to make it the right decision.

What if you’re proven wrong? For a quarterback, the wrong decision may lead to throwing an interception, getting smeared by a massive linebacker, or losing a game (perhaps a big game). From there, Manning’s advice is that you ‘get back to 0 (zero).’ You cannot dwell on it morbidly. Your bad decision can have an impact on those around you. They can be catastrophic. The question, then, is whether or not you will work even harder to make your next decision turn out right, or will you let the failure of the past become and idol continually lording over you threatening you with the fires of bad-decision-making hell. This leads to nothing but paralysis. It may be paralysis by analysis, but it is paralysis nonetheless.

As cliched as the idea may be for Christians, the gospel of Jesus Christ declares not only the possibility of second chances, but the fact of second chances. But ‘chances’ is not really the right phrase. You are not on probation. This is not the covenant of works. You are not-guilty in God’s court. Your choices may come to haunt you. They may hurt you and those around you. But rather than this leading to a downward spiral of bad-choices, it should be all the more ammunition for future diligence.

A resilient man is a dangerous man. See the resurrection of Christ.

But, the fact of the matter is, we are not resilient in ourselves. When we are crushed, we tend to, well, stay crushed. When we die we decompose. This is why it ultimately cannot depend upon you. A man outside of Christ can move forward after a bad decision by saying ‘oh well’ or ‘screw it,’ and that’s about all he can do. In Christ, you can own up to sins and mistakes, warts and all, because you believe in a resurrected Savior. You believe in a God who brings life out of death. At present, death remains, but, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor of its demise.

Christ was resilient for us, and so we will be. Now be what you are in him.