1985 March/April issue Part 2

Indecision

It is painfully obvious that young people today have an awful time making up their minds about anything. They're not "really sure" what college to go to, what to major in, whom to room with, what career to prepare for, whether or whom to marry, whether to bother with children if they do marry, when to bother with them, what to do with them if they get them, whether to attempt to instill any "values" in their children (not to make up your mind on this issue is, of course, already to have instilled a value in the mind of the child).

Gary Trudeau, author of the cartoon "Doonesbury," has noticed this prevalent indecision. In a recent strip he has a young man appearing for an interview with the president of an advertising company. "So you want to be an ad man, eh, son?" says the executive.

"Well, I think so, sir," says the youth. "I mean, I can't be certain, of course, but it seemed worth looking into, you know, to see if it worked out, if it felt right and ... I ... uh 
I guess there's nothing new about indecision. James wrote about it in his epistle, and he shows  that the remedy for it is trust. He tells us to ask for wisdom if we don't know what to do. "But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled  as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will  be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don't ask with faith, don't expect the Lord to give you any solid answer" (Jas  1:6-8, LB).