3-minute read
When you’re wanting direction from God, sometimes it can be hard to read the Bible, even though we know that’s a good place to go.
In the Bible, we can possibly read things that make us go, “Hey! So that’s what I’m supposed to be doing next!”
But it can be frustrating sometimes because, in the Bible, you read all these stories about all these people who heard directly from God what they were supposed to do next.
Go to this town.
Fight this battle.
Trust this person.
Help that guy.
Say this to that woman.
Just sit still.
Those are obviously pretty cool stories…
But when we’re trying to hear directly from God and don’t seem to be getting any message coming through loud and clear… those stories can feel frustrating. We might even have a little envy towards Abraham and David and Jesus and Paul and think, “Why won’t God communicate directly to me that way?”
It’s like we’re on a road trip… on a long stretch of highway… and there are all these exits and turnoffs… and we’re wondering when we get off the current highway and onto another road. “When, God?” and “Which one, Lord?” and we’re not getting any clear answers from Him.
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The fact is, sometimes God does communicate guidance and direction to us directly… and sometimes He doesn’t. (How’s that for a theological statement?)
Sometimes not hearing from God means He just wants us to press in more and more and listen more and more carefully and ask a little more diligently.
Makes me think of this funny little verse in Proverbs:
It is the greatness of God to keep things hidden, but it is the greatness of kings to find things out.
-Proverbs 25:2
Sometimes God plays a bit of hide and seek with us. Not because He’s cruel or mean, but because He wants us (like a great king) to seek and find Him and what He’s saying.
But… what if all that diligent prayer and asking and listening isn’t netting any sort of clear direction?
What do you do when God seems silent? When you’re asking Him what to do next… and you’re getting… nothing?
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I come from great stock. My dad and mom are two of the greatest people I know. They both have so much kindness, generosity, and wisdom that sometimes it’s hard for me to believe.
I remember back in my 20s, I was struggling in life quite a bit. I was living in California, floating around after graduate school, not having a fat clue what I was supposed to do next with my life—or what to do the following Wednesday or Thursday.
I wanted God to speak to me… to give me direction… but I wasn’t hearing much.
And it was wearing down on me. A lot of days it felt like I could hardly function. I was like a ghost, wandering around the so-called City of Angels… not really here, not really there.
All because I was wanting to hear what I was supposed to do from God.
Then… I remember talking to my Mom on the phone. I was telling her about how I was feeling… and my frustration at not knowing what to do next… and then she said something that’s stuck with me, all these years later…
She said, “When you don’t know what to do next, just do the last thing God told you to do.”
That hit me pretty good.
She was saying, “Sometimes we’re confused about where God has us going… and we want to hear something new from Him… some new guidance that directs us toward an exit… or another highway… but sometimes when He’s silent, it means He’s just wanting us to go back to the last thing He’d told us to do… and keep doing that. He’ll let us know when it’s time to shift off of that or build onto it.”
When you don’t know what to do next, just do the last thing God told you to do.
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So how does this play out for us?
For me, it means that when I feel like I’ve been on a highway for a long time… to not only stay on that highway… but to be even more fully committed to that highway.
Waiting for God to reveal something about my marriage?
Great. But in the meantime, love my wife the way He last told me to.
Waiting for God to show me something about my career?
Fabulous. But as I wait, be faithful in the work he has given me to do.
Waiting for God to give me direction on a big decision?
I might have to make that decision without clear direction (that’s a whole other topic about following God)… but as I head in that direction, I need to be committed to what’s right in front of me.
Maybe that’s the gist of that whole idea Mom was communicating to me: that sometimes when I’m looking up and away at what’s next, I need to actually focus a little bit more on doing what God has already told me to do.
Heck, maybe I’ve just gotten bored with what He last told me to do… and I want something new! and fresh! but it’s not time for that. Or He still has things for me to experience and grow in on the current highway.
We’re a “what’s next?!” culture… which can be good and aspirational… but it can also distract us from what God’s currently doing in us…
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So… are you wanting some word from God on “what’s next” for you? Great! Press in! Pray! Listen!
But as you wait on that… don’t just go into neutral…
Instead, focus more and more on doing the last thing it was that God communicated to you…
He probably hasn’t changed His mind about that… and He’ll let you know when He does.
May God grant you and I the grace to do what’s in front of us well as we wait for what’s next…
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
-Philippians 3:12