WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

By A. Lane Lavender

Sometimes God’s voice is so loud and clear that His will is obvious. At other times, you listen quietly yet it appears God is silent. In times of silence you look around you for confirmation. You look for signs to see what God is saying, where He is moving, what direction He is leading. You read the Word of God, looking and listening for His voice to leap to you from the pages. You listen to your counselors and friends speak and you look at the circumstances surrounding your situation. Sometimes they all point you in the same direction – the direction God has for you. But at other times all of these counselors and events only prove to confuse you more. What do you do then? What do you do when you are trying so hard to follow God’s direction but still are uncertain what that direction is?

WAIT. Don’t jump off of the ship. Don’t panic. Don’t do anything drastic. Don’t take a “leap of faith.” God has a perfect timing for everything He does. If He has not revealed His plan to you yet, then it is for a purpose. The Scripture is clear that God will direct our steps (Psalm 37:23). The Bible is also clear that God’s timing and His ways are not the same as ours. He sees things from a completely different perspective (Isaiah 55:8). It may even appear to us that what God has promised us will not come to pass, but we only live in the present. God lives in the past, present and future all at the same time. He knows what’s ahead. This means that what we think is hurting us may very well be the thing that is helping us. Think of Joseph, for example. He probably felt abandoned by God in prison, yet God was using the prison to set him up for the palace.

Saul got in trouble when he didn’t wait on Samuel as God had instructed him. This cost him greatly. He responded to his circumstances alone. It appeared that Samuel was not coming, and that they would be surrounded and defeated by their enemies if he did not proceed without Samuel. But Saul was wrong (I Samuel 15).

Abraham and Sarah thought they had waited too long and they took matters into their own hands. This resulted in much pain and strife that is still affecting our world several thousand years later. Who can blame them for wondering what God was doing after waiting fifteen years for His promise to come true? Their circumstances looked impossible with their age, but God had a perfect timing for Isaac to be born. In the end, I’m sure they felt Isaac was worth the wait.

It may seem that you have waited long enough – maybe even too long. Just remember that the important things – the best things – are worth waiting for. Isaac will come. Your dream will come to pass. Provision will come. Ministry will come. That special person will come. That child of promise will come. Wait.

Scriptures: Genesis 16, 21, I Samuel 15, Psalm 27:14,

 OBEY. You may not know what God is calling you to do next, but you do know what He has already called you to. Be faithful in what you know is God’s will. Stay committed and faithful to where and what God has called you to until He shows you otherwise. God’s Word promises blessings to those who are found faithful.

Scriptures: Psalm 31:23, Matthew 25:21-23, I Corinthians 4:2, Isaiah 55:10
 
SURRENDER. Have a heart-to-heart meeting with God and surrender your situation to Him. Tell God that you are willing to give everything – even your very life – to fulfill His plan for you. Admit your anxiety/worry/fear about the uncertainty of your future. Confess your dislike for waiting and your frustration with the inability to move forward. Give all of it to God. He already knows how you feel. It helps not to bottle these things up, but release them to God. Don’t worry, God can handle it, and He will not condemn you, rather, He will comfort you and give you faith.

I find an interesting parallel in Scripture with the story of Abraham’s testing by offering Isaac as a sacrifice to God (Genesis 22). Isaac was the “son of promise.” This child was God’s answer to Abraham’s request and to God’s plan for his life. And now, God wants Abraham to let the dream die? How does this make sense at all? I can’t begin to imagine how confused and frustrated Abraham must have felt. And yet, Abraham surrendered his promise to God and willingly gave back to God what God had promised to him. It was at this point – the point of surrender – which Abraham passed the ultimate test and God exalted him to a higher status that he could ever imagine - for eternity.  Sometimes we have to be willing to let go before the real blessings from God come. Often it is the point of complete surrender that launches us into our true destiny.  This process is excruciatingly emotionally painful! These are the most difficult decisions we make in life. It may mean letting go of a business or even harder, letting go of a child. It may be surrendering your home or giving-in to a surgery. Whatever it is, it has great value to you, and it represents the very future that you thought God had for you. You may be asked by God to surrender it.

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen God turn around a difficult situation supernaturally, only after it seemed the situation was over. Businesses that appeared to be sunk and the owners stopped fighting and just said to God – “If you want my business, then take it – all I have is yours.” It was only then that God supernaturally provided for them, and they found their ram in the thicket.  Surrender is a powerful thing with God. It’s not that God is a sadist, and likes to see people suffer. It’s that He wants to be close to us, and as a jealous God, He will allow difficulty and testing to make sure that we can be with Him, and that we can reach our full potential in Christ.  God will gladly sacrifice short-term discomfort for long-term character.
 
ONE DAY AT A TIME. The children of Israel lived one day at a time in the desert. Each day God supernaturally provided manna and water to sustain them. They were not allowed to store any up for the next day, and they had no idea when the manna would stop. Neither could they see that although they were in a desert, God was leading them to a land of abundance – a land flowing with milk and honey. Each day was a step closer to their blessing, but the only thing they could see was desert. You and I are to live by faith one day at a time (Matthew 6:34). You may be going through a desert in your life where nothing makes sense. The desert is a dry and barren place. It is uncomfortable in the daytime as well as in the nighttime. It seems there is no relief. But if we can wait on God, be faithful each day, and surrender to His plan and trust Him, He will get us to our destiny. In the meantime, He will be a shade for us in the hot sun (a pillar of cloud), heat for us in the night (a pillar of fire), light in our darkness (the pillar of fire was at night), water to our thirst (water from the rock) and manna from on high. And he will supernaturally make the things that we have to endure for the journey (their clothes and shoes never wore out).

When you don’t know what to do, don’t “just do something.” More often than not you will do the wrong thing. Understand that God is up to something and you are simply going to have to wait on Him to move. In the meantime, remain faithful and diligent in your assignment, surrendering everything to God, including your emotions. Trust God one day at a time, understanding that each day is a step closer to your destiny. And remember that God is faithful and the best things are worth waiting for.