How Can I Be Certain I'm Following God's Plan?

Had we made a huge mistake? We’d prayed about this job opportunity. We’d sought wise counsel from a trusted friend. Then we prayed some more. It looked like this open door for a different job was an answer to prayer.

But after loading up the family and hauling everything we owned 700 miles to our new home, we never expected to face this.

The start-up company that offered my husband the job closed its doors. This turn of events hit hard, leaving us with the uncertainty of unemployment while providing for a new baby. It caused me to question: how could we have been so sure this was God’s will? If He really brought us here, why would this happen?

How Do I Know When I’m in God’s Will?

Trusting that our actions are in line with God’s will for us can be hard. Especially when doubt and fear try to work their way into our lives.

I can’t count the number of prayers offered up to God before we made the big decision to relocate to another state. Daily I sat before my Heavenly Father asking, seeking, and knocking on the door while waiting for some type of signal to point the way. Yet in between prayers I would contemplate, evaluate, and negotiate with God about the whole thing. I claimed to trust the Holy Spirit, but my actions told a different story.

When you ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, trust He will.

Sometimes we will not hear God’s audible voice offering the direction we seek. In the quiet waiting, it’s easy to let our minds wander into a whirlwind of questions and concerns. When this happens, we need to remember the moment we invited Jesus Christ into our lives. Because of His deep love for us, He sent the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and Guide. John 16:13 says, “The Spirit will guide you into all truth.” So even if I don’t have a definite answer, I can trust that the Spirit in me provides what I need to make any decision with clarity and a steadfast heart.

Seeking God’s Will Doesn’t Need to Be Complicated

The more we tried to figure out the best choice for our family, the more confused we became. Through all the madness, we failed to see how the confusion affected our everyday lives. We had forgotten the truth of 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.”

God’s Word offers simple steps to follow for those who seek His will. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus,” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Instead of making it complicated, let’s focus on the simplicity of God’s will.

Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks. These three actions will cast aside all the distraction of our runaway thoughts. When we bring our focus back to the simplicity of God’s will for us, we suddenly lose the urgency of having to decide right now. Our focus becomes how we live our lives for God, not how He answers our prayers.

If you’re in a place of confusion today over which path to take, allow the verses above to bring fresh peace to your situation. Trust in the Holy Spirit to open the right doors and close the wrong ones as you focus on the simplicity of God’s will.

He is faithful to guide as we keep our eyes on Him.

A portion of this devotion is an excerpt from an article by Kristine Brown, “How to Follow God’s Plan,” originally published on Crosswalk.com.

How to Stop Living on Overload

Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly. 1 Chronicles 28:20 NLT

My writing space (aka. office) doubles as a guest bedroom.

Or maybe I should say, our guest bedroom doubles as my office.

So as I sit at my makeshift desk this Saturday morning, enjoying watching the raindrops bounce off piles of leaves in the yard, something out of the corner of my eye begs for my attention.

I’m trying not to look, but I give in to the pressure. It’s the overstocked closet I’ve been meaning to clean out for months.

My mind is overwhelmed with thoughts.

I immediately turn from writing this week’s post and scan my monthly planner. Maybe I can squeeze it in between work and dinner one day this week? Or better yet, let me work on revamping my entire schedule. Something has to give, so I can fit everything in. Planning helps me feel more in control, so if I work on my schedule, surely I’ll feel better, right?

Wrong.

Planning, organizing, analyzing, prioritizing. I’m a planner by nature. I love the idea of becoming more organized, and Lord knows I need help in that area! But even though organizing the schedule can be fun for a detail-oriented girl like me, all that planning doesn’t leave me feeling any more at peace.

How do I stop living on overload?

 I know deep down the best thing to do to stop living on overload is just clean the closet.

 Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly. 1 Chronicles 28:20 NLT

David gave Solomon sound advice in his instruction for building the temple. After encouraging Solomon to be strong and courageous, he added these three words.

Do the work.

We can learn an important lesson from this simple statement. Sometimes we try to find solutions for our busyness, but it just adds more to the to-do list than what’s already there. When instead, we should stop trying to give our schedule an overhaul and just tackle the tasks - one at a time.

I don’t know about you, but I can make things so complicated. That’s why I love it when God keeps it simple, as He does here in this message. After his instructions, David goes on to share the best news of all. “He (God) will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work...is finished correctly.”

 When I do my small part, God will make sure the work is finished correctly.

How do you stop overloading yourself?

Maybe it's the daily tasks of life that are overwhelming you. Or maybe it's bigger. More challenging. And you've been dreading it, or maybe even putting it off because you simply don't know where or how to start.

I hear you.

Let's grab hold of God's Word right now. The next time a seemingly overwhelming job taunts you, remember this verse. Let it guide you as you are tempted to distract yourself by rearranging your schedule or creating a new to-do list.

Instead, spend an hour tackling that task. Just doing the work will free us from the craziness that overloads us.

Now if you’ll excuse me for an hour or so, I need to show this closet who's boss.

Feeling overwhelmed lately by tasks and to-do lists? Need help knowing where to start? My friend Liz at My Messy Desk hosted a series called Master Your Mess & Discover God's Best. Click the title link to check it out!