So you believe you heard a command from God and with heart beating fast, and fear welling up inside, you decide to obey. You believe with all your heart that the Lord has led you down this path. Suddenly, you arrive at the destination and the outcome is nothing you expected. You begin to question yourself, “Did I miss God?” “Was I wrong?” “Did I do my own thing?” “Was it the enemy?”
We have all been there, that all too familiar place where you believe in your spirit that God gave you a word, you got a command and based on that you stepped out on faith, but though you believed that this would take you to greater heights in Him, the outcome seems disappointing. You are unclear about what your next move should be, the warfare in your mind is raging and to top it all off, God is silent. You are completely confused! How did the right command take me to the wrong destination? Of course by now condemnation has begun to sweep in your thoughts and somehow you find yourself feeling alone, abandoned and discontented.
Lord, where is my peace?
Your peace is where your trust is……
Whenever we find ourselves in this place, the first thing we need to do is introspection, we must examine ourselves to determine our heart posture. Ask yourself, where does my trust lie? Do I trust me or do I trust God? Often times the source of our confusion comes from relying on our own understanding, but (Proverbs 3:4- 5) commands us to “Trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not to our own understanding…” Not only that, but we know God promises in this same scripture that “if we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will direct our path.” In the midst of the natural chaos and confusion, peace can only come from the Word itself. Peace is found, or regained, when there is a reassurance of who God is and what His promises are to us.
- Release the burden of always wanting to know the outcome
Often times we find ourselves at a point in our life that is unfamiliar. The journey with God has taken us to a place we never imagined. All your friends are gone, you lost your job, you did not get into to the school you applied for, your spouse walked out on you, you took a leap of faith and then fell on your face right after the leap. You literally have no idea what’s going on and you have no clue what the next move is. Well, as humans it’s our nature to want to know it all, but with God this is not usually the way He intends to work in us. Sometimes in order to stretch our faith and build our character, we need to be unclear and uncertain of the outcome- that’s faith. Rest assured you are never alone. You must find rest in the fact that even before a day of your life was lived, God knew you (Psalms 139), the Creator of the universe took the time to order all your steps from beginning to end. There are no spare days or odd days in God’s beautiful story of your destiny. So even if you don’t know the outcome, you can find peace in knowing that God knows, God knows the end even from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10). Also, you can rest assured that while you may not know the plans you are assured that His plans are good, He has a plan to prosper you and to give you a future (Jeremiah 29:11). Great are His thoughts towards you (Psalms 139). If you are that important to God, that He numbered the hair on your head, you can rest assured He has your steps covered. Keep reaffirming your surrender to Him and say “Father even if I don’t know, you know, and before this came to be you knew the outcome, every problem, fear, doubt, anxiety I would ever have in my life, you provided an answer for me from before time begun. I will trust you.”
2. Know that our actions do not surprise God
Sometimes when situations arise in our lives and it takes us by surprise we may be of the view that because the place we are at now is a surprise to us, it took God by surprise. So, you made a decision that you believed was right but now you are beginning to doubt yourself. You walked off the job in faith and it turns out God never told you to move, you got pregnant having sex outside of marriage. What next? You must understand that nothing you will ever do will surprise God. He is the only person that knows you more than you know yourself. He searches the deep things of the heart and examines the mind (Jeremiah 17:10), he knows exactly where you are in life and how you ended up there, the time you would arrive and what you would be wearing. God is not surprised and neither is He perturbed. We must come to that realization, God knows you and so if I am here at this point of confusion, I have peace that God is aware of my situation and He is working on my behalf because He is for me. I will trust in that truth.
3. Seek Him continuously – Be persistent
One of the integral things we often fail to do when we are in a state of confusion is to seek God earnestly for His direction. So many times, we go to God for an answer and before long because He hasn’t responded right away and we give up. We get weary of going back over and over for the same thing. We get discouraged and we allow the confusion to consume us. We must constantly, intentionally, and persistently go back to God. Go back to God to vent, to cry, to sit in silence, to express your anger, to scream, whatever you feel in that moment take it back to God and give it to Him. We ought to learn what it means to truly seek God. You can question God on what you are confused about and know that His Word says “if you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” (Jeremiah 29:13) –NLT. He also promises to direct our path, He promises to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm 119:105). Seeking does not necessarily mean praying, it means including God in the confusion and allowing Him to guide you out of it. He is never tired to hear you but in times of confusion, we must learn to depend on God completely, He is an ever present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1).
4. He is the Prince of Peace – (Isaiah 9:6)
When all else fails, know and rest assured that our Lord is the Prince of Peace. Peace is a free gift from God, but as with all gifts, in order to benefit from it, we need to receive it and use it. He says in His word “peace I leave with you, My peace, I give to you…” You need to ask yourself, am I truly resting in the peace of God. In order to receive this peace we need to focus our whole heart and mind on the Lord and not the problem. How do you focus? By actively fighting against the enemy. Find your praise in your confusion, thank God that He is all knowing and that He is the Alpha and the Omega so He already knows the end of your situation. When you find yourself getting burdened or anxious, take a praise break at work, go in the washroom for 5 minutes and cry out to God, call a trusted prayer partner or friend and ask them to pray with you, play worship music, feed your spirit man with the word constantly, listen to it in your ears on your phone. Whatever you do, do not allow your mind to be idle enough to become a minefield for the enemy. Step outside of your feelings and speak the Word as the truth over your life. For example, Father, I have no money for my loan payment which is due tomorrow but Thank you for being faithful, because I know if you clothed the lilies and feed the birds of the air, you have already made provisions for me (Matthew 6:30). Declare that you will be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6). Keep speaking the word into your spirit until your feelings come into alignment with the Word of God. Believe the Word! Receive it! Hold fast to it and never let it leave you. Remind yourself of the reasons you trust God. Reminisce on times past when God came through for you, encourage yourself in the Lord. Do not keep a pity party for yourself, attend and be down and out. No, choose to receive the peace of God.
There is no magic formula to this life, test and trials will come, often times we allow our eyes to deceive us by showing our reality and then accept our feelings as truth. Your feelings are temporary and are very devious; in any state we find ourselves let us continue to be thankful and grateful to God (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Let us actively subdue those feelings to the Word of God. That is the only place to find true comfort, in God and His Word. We cannot quit on God, not now, not ever. Lets continue to encourage each other in the faith and be of good cheer, knowing that He who begun a good work in us will complete it. (Philippians 1:6)
Be encouraged…
Debranette Mattis
Meet my sister Debranette Mattis, blogger at www.aboutmyfathersbusiness.ca