What do you do you do when you don’t know what to do? I’ve been thinking about this a lot this week. I’ve come up with a couple of dos and don’ts when we don’t know what to do.
Sometimes we face difficult seasons in our life, and we can feel confused. Circumstances and situations present themselves to us that we’ve never experienced before. We can be so dumbfounded, we become dizzy or even paralyzed with confusion. This leads to an inability to know what to do.
I’ve experienced a few of these difficult situations in life now. Earlier in my life, I would panic, depending on the severity of the situation. I made all kinds of mistakes from sharing too much information with too many people (and sometimes the wrong people), to acting too fast, to saying things I regretted, to just making stupid decisions that caused tremendous pain, and not just for myself.
Perhaps you’ve experienced these kinds of situations where you don’t know what your next step should be to move forward.
Dos and Don’ts for When You Don’t Know What to Do
After years of living, I’ve now learned a few important things I can do when I don’t know what to do,
First, pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NIV). Prayer is crucial when we don’t know what to do. Communication with our Lord should be our first response. Always seek first the counsel of the LORD. (1 Kings 22:5, 2 Chronicles 18:4, Matthew 6:33).
Now, the rest of things I’ve learned come from a chapter in the Bible that God has used in my life for years. This chapter has been so prominent for instruction in my life, the pages are worn and torn in my Bible.
The first annotation date goes all the way back to May 23, 2006. That, my friend, was a hard year, filled with all sorts of not knowing what to do.
But God helped me.
Psalm 37
Psalm 37 is “that” chapter for me. I have built a foundation for myself from the first eight verses when I don’t know what to do.
- Do not fret
- Trust in the LORD
- Delight yourself in the LORD
- Commit your way to the LORD
- Be still before the LORD
- Wait patiently for Him
- Do not fret
- Refrain from anger
Did you notice that “Do not fret” is listed twice? Oh, there’s more instructions in these first eight verses, but these have been the ones I embrace when I am confused and don’t know what my next step is.
Don’t Move Until God Instructs
The list above has a lot of Dos and Don’ts, but I want to add one more Don’t when we don’t know what to do.
Do not move forward until God instructs.
Whenever I’ve gone ahead of God’s direction, I have always suffered for it. Like the Israelites journey in the wilderness. A journey that should have only taken a couple of weeks, God allowed to take 40 years. Why? Because of their disobedience.
So, if God doesn’t tell me to move, I’m not moving. I don’t want to disobey Him. Until God instructs me, I will not move forward. I encourage you to do the same.
November New Challenge
This 30-day challenge is evidence of me not making a move until God instructed me to move. As I mentioned at the beginning of this challenge, I had not written much in the last couple of years. It just wasn’t the right time to focus on my writing for God. Now is the right time.
Perhaps you are in a season right now where you don’t know what to do. Maybe it’s pertaining to a job, relationship, marriage, housing, education, parenting, or a myriad of other things. Remember, pray first, do not worry, trust the LORD, and please wait for Him to lead you.
Commit to Him and to yourself, that you will wait patiently. While you wait, delight in the LORD and be still before Him. If you get tempted to move before you hear from God, don’t do it. Wait. He has a reason for making us wait. We need to trust His timing too.
You are not alone. I’m doing all these things right now too. In fact, I have a very difficult circumstance in my life, and I am laying it all out before the LORD, waiting for Him to direct and lead me. I know He will in His perfect timing. Until then, I will not move forward.
Blessing
May we seek the LORD’s counsel first. May we not worry or be angry. As we wait for the LORD’s next instruction, may we commit to Him, wait for Him, delight in Him, and be still before Him.
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