Portland Based International Samaritan Ministry

LOOK AGAIN: Decisions, Decisions …

Are you ever over whelmed with unfinished business? Frustration turns to anxiety. Anxiety turns to avoidance. Avoidance turns to escape. Escape turns to isolation and isolation leads to misery. What a downer! More than the misery downer is the loss of remembrance of the original dilemma. Where can we start again?

A healthy person is decisive. Let’s look at the parable of the Good Samaritan once again. Specifically, let’s look at the Samaritan’s actions in Luke 10: 33-35: “When he saw the man’s condition his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him on to his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper saying, “Take good care of him. If it costs any more put it on my bill – I’ll pay you on my way back”. (The Message) Wow! He made one decision after another. He could have looked at the situation and felt pressed by his own business, moved on, and taken on the sense of guilt that comes with recognizing a true need and making no decision about it. I call that the ‘ would a, could a, should a’ syndrome. A sense of guilt can only be relieved by taking action that follows through where the avoidance began, the moment of unwillingness to make a decision. The Samaritan made one decision after another until he finished what he had started. That’s very healthy thinking followed by disciplined action. Read more →