One of the most difficult and challenging times is when we are not sure of what to do next.
Because of Adam’s sin of partaking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we have an almost insatiable desire for knowledge. When confronted with an important choice in life, we want to know what to do. Not knowing creates a sense of angst inside us. Some turn to illicit means of gaining such knowledge, such as the occult. Because God was silent, King Saul turned to a medium on the eve of an important battle with the Philistine army to try to find out information God was hiding from him (1 Samuel 28). What should we do is such a situation?
God created us to rely him for everything. He is our Creator and Sustainer. Every breath we take is a gift. Without his continual upholding of our lives, we would fall dead.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power... Hebrews 1:3a (NASB95)
This does not mean that he wishes to keep us in an immature state, like a baby needing help all the time. Rather, God wants us to learn to trust him in an ever greater way to accomplish what would otherwise be impossible for us.
The devil tries to make us feel stupid and incomplete because we do not know everything. He tempts us to pridefully rebel against our God-given need to rely on the Lord. He used this successfully against Adam and Eve in the garden; so, we should not take this temptation lightly.
God did not create us as stupid beings, but he did limit our ability to know. Not knowing is part of the reason we are so dependent upon him.
The quest to be and act independently from God is a root behind all sin.
Jesus gave us the perfect example of God-dependent living.
He only did what he saw the Father doing (John 5:19) and spoke what he heard the Father saying (John 12:50). As a result of his perfect obedience to God, Jesus was completely free. Freedom is not doing what we please. Rather, it is pleasing God. Sin enslaves; whereas, God’s Spirit liberates.
Eve disobeyed God in a quest to know forbidden things. God asks us to trust him without having have all the information that we might desire. The Lord simply wants us to trust and obey. God tells us what we need to know at just the right time. Otherwise, we rest in the confidence that God knows all things and sovereignly oversees our destinies.
In God’s economy, faith in God’s faithfulness is more important than having knowledge.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
As the old hymn says,
Many Things About Tomorrow,
I Don’t Seem To Understand;
But I Know Who Holds Tomorrow,
And I Know Who Holds My Hand.
Everyone lives by faith in something, even if it is faith that there is nothing worth believing. Faith is based on believing what is unprovable using scientific methodology. The great mysteries of life must be accepted by faith.
- Is there a God?
- What is the purpose of life?
- What happens after death?
- What do I do next?
Those who say that faith is blind, do not know God.
When we take a step of faith, it should be based on something rock solid. God has given us his written Word in the Bible, and he has provided us with the Holy Spirit. It can still be “scary” to take God at his Word and act upon it, but such fear comes from a lack of experience of the faithfulness of God. The more we take such faith “leaps,” the greater our confidence in God.
The Spirit of God reveals God’s secrets to us.
But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 1 Corinthians 2:10 (NLT)
He speaks to our hearts and opens our minds to understand the scriptures. This is the kind of knowledge that God permits and encourages. Revelation from the scriptures and from the Spirit are gifts from God and minister life to us, just the opposite of what happened in the garden when the wrong kind of knowledge was pursued and brought death.
But sometimes God withholds what we might consider to be key information, leaving us feeling very unsure of ourselves and what to do next. Such a time is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our faith that God will reveal to us whatever we need to know and handle the unknowns for us.
If the Lord withholds information, it is because we do not need to know. Knowing that God knows all things and is faithful to keep his promises is enough.
God is good and trustworthy, and we can trust in him even when nothing else makes sense. We do not have to know everything. We just need to rely on the one who does.
To the uninitiated, living by faith without any knowledge of what is happening or going to happen can be disconcerting. But when we learn to live by faith, it produces a deep sense of joy and peace. God is more trustworthy than what we can see with our eyes or understand with our minds.
For we live by believing and not by seeing. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)
When we put our faith in him, he gives us a peace that passes understanding.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
So, when we are confused and unsure what to do next, it is time to find shelter in the “secret place” of God’s presence until he chooses to reveal what is the next thing we need to know. Until then we can choose to be content in knowing him.
