Stepping out before you know how it all turns out—that’s what faith is all about. But many Christians embrace the false notion that it should be easy, or at least simple. And if it’s not, God isn’t in it.
But when we look at Scripture, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, there is one thing we know we will encounter every time we change direction in life—resistance.
Ever feel alone? Jesus did, too. That’s right. Messiah. Creator. Savior of the world. Even he dealt with loneliness. After all, one of the reasons he became one of us was to understand what we go through each day on this terrestrial ball. But unlike us, Jesus refused to give in to the temptation to fixate on that feeling.
How did he beat it? Jesus beat loneliness by speaking the truth to himself.
It matters greatly how we talk to ourselves. Let’s face it, we are the one person we can never get away form—no matter how hard we might try at times. So what we say to ourselves is critical when we are tempted to feel alone.
It happened at least once to Jesus, most noticeably as he gave his disciples a final briefing just prior to his crucifixion.
Smack dab in the middle between real life and real faith is—real fear. Fear of failure. Fear that we’ll look foolish. Fear that everyone will laugh when we do fail. Fear that __________ —fill in the blank with your own fear. There’s no shortage of reasons to be afraid. But how can we stop being afraid?
I believe that for those who have trusted in Christ as their only hope, God has not left us to be paralyzed by the unknown.
Instead, His Word gives us 7 steps for overcoming fear and rising victoriously above the challenges that come our way.
That’s not to say it will be easy.
Do you know where you are headed next in life? Do you know where you should be headed next? If you’re like a lot of us, you may have accidentally fallen into a life direction instead of intentionally choosing your best path.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, it shouldn’t be that way.
God created each one of us with unique strengths, passions, and skills sets. He gave us each unique relationship connections that open doors of opportunity unavailable to others.
And He expects us to use it all to more fully reveal His majesty on earth as it is in heaven.
Don’t you wish it were easier to figure out the person God wants you to marry? After all, the movies make it look so easy: See the person. Fall madly in love. Pine away for him or her for a little while. Then magically overcome all obstacles and live happily ever after.
At least that seems like the way it’s supposed to work. But real life often unfolds rather differently, doesn’t it?
And for those who want a happy, healthy marriage that will be pleasing to God, it’s going to take more than eHarmony to marry the right person.
Have you ever faced a key life decision and wondered why God wasn’t giving you clear direction? I mean, how hard would it be for Him to rent a billboard or at least shoot you an e-mail to say, “Click here to know what to do next.”
Doesn’t God own the data on a thousand servers as much as He owns the cattle on a thousand hills? I confess that I have never needed any cattle, but I sure could have used an email with divine direction at key times in life.
When we don’t hear clear direction from God, why is it we always assume it is God’s fault?
I came across an intriguing but sad comment by a reader recently. He said that he once asked God for direction, but God didn’t answer. So he had to make his own way, and it hadn’t turned out well. I couldn’t help but wonder if God had not answered or if this reader simply had not listened or not liked what he heard.
In fact, he had made some pretty serious, even criminal mistakes, all of which he blamed on God for not responding to his request for direction.
I know in my own faith walk, when I choose poorly, it is often the result of trusting in my own wisdom instead of waiting for and insisting on an answer from God.
Ask just about any Christian if he or she trusts God to take them to heaven to live with Him forever, and you’ll get an immediate and resounding yes. So why do those same Christians – myself included – struggle to trust Him with all the stuff in between here and now and there and then?
Paying bills, making life decisions, navigating relationships, avoiding temptation – you name it, we worry about it. We fret about stuff we have no control over. We lose sleep trying to make sure we’ve thought of every contingency. We exhaust ourselves working to get just one more thing done or to make a few dollars more.
And then we say we trust God with the fate of our souls. Hmmm…..
After my last post [Are You Too Busy to Hear What God Wants Next?], I heard from a friend on the other side of the world who had just received a copy of my latest book A Story Worth Telling — but was too tired to read it.
So even though he knew he needed to make some changes in order to live a story worth telling, the pace of his life was leaving him too tired to do it. So he asked an obvious question I think we all ask at times: what can I do when I am too tired for God?
I would prefer to know how life will turn out before I choose my next step. If you’re like me, it’s easy to make a common mistake in pursuit of a life that is pleasing to God.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be unpacking the process of knowing God’s will for your life in a series of posts on the topic. I get questions from readers all the time who are trying to figure out what God wants them to do next.
My free eBook What God Wants You to Do Next: 7 Questions to Discover God’s Best for Your Life has been downloaded by people all over the world, so I know trying to figure out God’s direction is a common experience no matter where you live. I’ve heard from new friends as close as Atlanta and as far away as New Guinea and Ghana asking for advice on how to tell the difference between what God wants and what I want.
Although there is more to unpack in answering this question–something I’ll be doing in a series of posts coming soon–we need to be careful not to make a common mistake when asking this question and others about finding our life direction.
We should not assume we can ever reach a place in this life where we are free from uncertainty about what God wants us to do next.
The Apostle Paul describes our journey as a faith-walk, not a sight-walk. It’s not a historical tour complete with gripping narration, bronze plaques, and souvenir shops. It is a dynamic journey into the unknown with the One who knows and sustains all things.
The Christian walk is not a documentary filmed after the fact. It is an ongoing process which requires us to depend on God for direction as it unfolds in real time. Someday we’ll have the luxury of hindsight, but not now.
We make a mistake if we expect the Christian walk to be anything other than an exercise in ever-increasing dependence on God. Not only is uncertainty not abnormal, it is the expected way of life for all who follow Christ. We live in tension between what is already accomplished and what is being accomplished, between what is and what is to come.
“Though the outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16) A metamorphosis is taking place within us. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that the process may become uncomfortable at times. In fact, we should expect it.
Remember this: Faith itself is a temporary thing. “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) One day faith will give way to sight, and all uncertainty will cease. Until then, the process is working something far greater within us, causing us to lean into our Savior for direction and guidance as we walk paths we’ve never known before.
By all means, seek clarity from God, but don’t let uncertainty stop you from moving forward. Get used to saying, I don’t know all the answers, but I’m taking the next step anyway.
Embrace uncertainty as an opportunity to discover greater clarity about what matters most. And your story will become better for it.
Question: Do you sometimes make the mistake of thinking your uncertainty is weird or not normal for a Christ follower? How might your present uncertainty be an opportunity for you to grow closer to God? Share your thoughts by clicking here.
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