When you need to make a decision, the last thing you would want to do is miss God’s warning. However, sometimes the Lord’s voice sounds muffled. The signs seem cloudy. We’re anxious, so we lack peace, which could mean we aren’t trusting God. Or maybe our lack of peace is from God because he’s saying no, but we don’t want to hear it.
Should you switch jobs? Should you buy that car? Should you go on vacation with that group of friends? Should you take that loan from your parents? Should you go on that date? Should you marry that person? Whether it be a big decision or a small one, you want to follow God’s leading, especially when he’s trying to warn you about dangers ahead.
Therefore, to help you know when God is really sending you a warning sign, here are 4 things that often happen when God is saying, “Don’t do it!”
Also, if you’re a Christian single person who wants deep relationship training to help you interact with the opposite sex in the best way possible, AGW University is for you. But more on that at the end of this article.
1. If You Have to Make a Rushed Decision and You Have No Idea If It’s Wise or Not, God Is Probably Saying, “Don’t Do It!”
Proverbs 19:2, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.”
The Hebrew word for “haste” is אוּץ (utz) and it means to rush or hurry. This word captures the image of someone moving frantically with their feet, suggesting physical haste that reflects inner impatience. The verb emphasizes not just speed but recklessness—the kind of hurried action that bypasses careful thought. (Logos Bible Software)
So this verse is not really telling us to be slow or passive. Rather, it’s more so saying that we must never make an important decision when we’re frantic and unsure.
Real life is messy, though. So sometimes, there are choices that must be made even though you don’t have as much time as you would like to think about it. In those moments, do your best to quiet your heart, seek God’s guidance, and then make a choice, trusting that God will sovereignly work his will.
However, in other instances, the pressure to decide is coming from ourselves. If you can wait, don’t make a decision until you feel like you’ve taken the time to really seek the Lord’s guidance. And in some instances, if you have to give an answer, it’s better to make your default a no.
Why? Because the devil and evil people often use pressure to tempt us to make bad choices. If you feel pressured and don’t know whether to say yes or no, no is always the safer route. If there’s no danger in saying yes, then go for it. But if the negative consequences are high, just say no if you’re not sure what to do.
2. If You’re About to Do the Same Thing You’ve Done in the Past But You Are Hoping for a Different Outcome, God Is Probably Saying, “Don’t Do It”
Should you get back together with your ex? Should you return to your former place of employment? Should you give your pastor another chance, even though he gave you bad advice in the past?
In most instances, it’s unwise to give something another try even though it ended terribly in the past. The only exception to this rule is when something has dramatically changed that would produce different results. If you and your ex are basically the same people but you just miss each other now, it’s probably a bad idea to get back together because the problems you had will just break you up again.
If your boss was toxic, but he’s begging you to come back, offering you more money, and promising you things will be better, you probably shouldn’t go back because your boss still has the same character that led to his bad choices in the past.
If your pastor gave you bad advice before, it probably means he’s just not very wise and isn’t equipped to give you good advice. It’s not mean of you to stop listening to him if he’s just wrong.
Proverbs 26:11 states, “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.” And Philippians 3:13-14 says, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
3. If You Would Need to Put a Lot of Trust in Someone You Don’t Know that Well Yet, God Is Probably Saying, “Don’t Do It!”
Proverbs 26:10, “Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.” This verse highlights the fact that we need to entrust people with power who have shown themselves trustworthy.
Maybe someone you barely know wants to be your boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe you are desperate to hire a manager at your company, but the only person who seems qualified is the guy who just started working for you in a lower position a few weeks ago. Or maybe someone has presented you with an amazing financial investment, but it requires you to trust them to manage your money.
While you should eventually trust others so you can get into a relationship, hire someone as the manager, and allow someone to manage your money wisely, you must not blindly trust people you barely know.
If a decision would require you to trust someone a lot, even though you don’t know them that well, God is probably telling you not to do that!
4. If You’re Being Tempted to Save Someone from the Problems They Created Themselves, God Is Probably Saying, “Don’t Do It!”
Ironically, sometimes the most harmful thing you can do for someone is to rescue them from the consequences of their own bad decisions. Sometimes we have to realize that someone else’s emergency isn’t our emergency.
Of course, if someone is in physical danger or in a pinch that was not their own doing, we should be the good Samaritan and help. But when a fool is acting foolish, it’s not always the right thing to keep rescuing them from their problems (Proverbs 19:19).
Proverbs 26:17, “Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.”
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