I sat down to start writing this blog a month ago. I had been praying and journaling; asking God to show me what he wanted me to write about. So many ideas running through my mind; asking him to lead me. Writing is easy for me. Sharing things that are close to my heart or that God has shown me over the years is easy. Sharing life lessons is easy, but I want to be in his will. I want to reach the people that he wants me to reach. I want to be his hands and feet. I want to write what He wants me to write. These are the things I tell myself and I pray. Yet day after day, week after week of asking, praying, seeking and I couldn’t see any clear answer that said “THIS IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO”. Everything I would start to write on God would say, “No.” I would quickly start over and begin writing on something else. He would say, “NO,” again. Here I am after a month of asking and praying and feeling like God wasn’t giving me the yes I wanted or a clear answer and honestly, it’s frustrating! Frustrating when we want so badly for God to show us what he wants and to show us what way we should go with no clear answer. We want a clear sign. Sometimes even causing us to “put out a fleece” like Gideon in Judges 6 and saying to God, “Well, if you want me to do this, then you’ll open this door and let this happen as a sign to me.”
As I study about God’s will for our lives and what He wants for us, I am quickly learning that a lot of times we let our emotions come into play more than realize. We panic. We get scared. We want to fix the problem. In all reality most of the time God wants us to sit still and endure! Wait for him to show us when to go, when to speak. Unfortunately in our human minds, all we hear is silence or “no”. We’ve all been there. Sometimes we have the best intentions. We don’t like pressure. We don’t want people to think we don’t have all the answers. When in all reality we do not. God is the ONLY one who knows the plans for your life. And his plans are better than anything we could ever come up with for ourselves. And this is how I know: It says in Isaiah Chapter 55 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. If that’s the case, why do I think that my ideas and plans are going to bring me to where God wants me to be?
Here’s the challenge for us today. If we are in a place of decision making and we need an answer or direction, there are 5 things that we can do.
We need to make sure that we are in the word of God. Filling ourselves with his promises. Flooding our mind and spirit with scripture. Leaving no room for doubt or fear. This reminds us of God’s character. If our plans don’t line up with God’s word and His character; that’s a good indicator that it is not His plan, but our own.
We must let go of our answer. Sometimes we ask God for direction or an answer when we already have our own and we simply want God to place his stamp of approval on it. Take a moment to realize that maybe your plan isn’t God’s plan. Ask him with an open heart and open mind.
Surround yourself with good counsel. The Bible says in Proverbs 13, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Choose a few people to pray with you and for you!
Have conversations with your heavenly Father. We must abandon the idea that we can only talk to God at church on Sunday morning. He wants us to constantly be in communication with Him. Abiding in Him. It’s always so interesting to me how awkward we are about talking to God, yet we have the ability to walk into a restaurant and have a conversation with some random waiter or waitress that we’ve never met before. God loves us more than anything our human minds can comprehend. Sometimes that looks like this, “Good morning, Lord! Thank you for the sunshine this morning. I have a busy morning, but I never want to be too busy for you! Help me to see all my blessings today and not get distracted or too focused on the negative things that I cannot change. Thank you for being with me today everywhere I go. I love you, Lord.”
Don’t make it complicated. Just talk to him. Most importantly: LISTEN. In moments of quiet while you’re driving, walking to the mailbox, waiting in line to pick up your kids from school, cleaning your kitchen floor, say, “Lord, I want to hear your voice; speak to me.” And then LISTEN. I love the scripture Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding–indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
-Nikki