There are times in all of our lives where we think God is telling us to do something and so we go ahead and confidently do it.
We go ‘all in’ and say, “OK God, I’m going to do what You say to do.” Things feel good and everything is just ticking along nicely.
Then, in the middle of our new comfort zone, we start feeling like the season is changing and God wants us to do something else.
Uh oh – the solid ground is shifting!
The feeling that something new is coming continues to grow and the more it does, the wobblier we feel…
This is when we begin to ask ourselves questions like
- What does this look like?
- What do I do now?
- Will I be OK in this change?
- How do I know if this will work out well?
- How do I know what He’s asking me to do?
And they are all legitimate questions. They’re the kind of questions we need answers to in order to know how to go forward well.
The problem is that we typically ask these questions from a place of fear instead of a place of faith – and this is where the rubber meets the road.
Over the years I have faced so many of these scenarios and I’ve learned to feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to come and talk to Him about it, rather than letting the fear fester and get me down.
So, when a coaching client came to me with this scenario the other day, we decided that we would talk it through with God, together.
As we asked Him what was happening, He revealed that the reason we feel wobbly is because we’re not sure we can trust Him in the change.
While we were processing, Proverbs 3:5-6 popped into my mind and He began to unpack those verses in a way I hadn’t seen them before.
He was actually showing us not only the reason she felt wobbly, but how to get back to a state of peace and trust instead. (I love it when He does this!)
Let’s have a look at these gems
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
Pro 3:5-6 (Amp)
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
The first step in coming back to peace is really just readjusting yourself.
Ask the Lord, “Lord, I think I’m afraid because I’m not sure that I can trust You. Will you show me how I can trust You? What are You doing in these circumstances that is trustworthy? What can I stand on that won’t shift?”
Remind yourself of the promises of His faithfulness that you can stand on. Remind yourself of all the times He has been trustworthy in the past.
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
When we feel uncertain, we go into self-defense and self-preservation mode and then we try to work it out ourselves.
We start asking ourselves, “What experience do I have that I can walk in? What knowledge do I have that I know I can take advantage of?” We try to figure things out in our own understanding.
And of course, these verses very clear. It says, do not lean on your own understanding, because it’s so limited and we only know a tiny part in comparison to what God knows.
In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him
Once God has shown us how much we can trust Him, something happens that shifts us into the place of realizing that relying on our own insight and understanding isn’t going to get us anywhere.
Then we get to come back to Him and say, “Oh Lord, thank You. I acknowledge You in all of my ways, Lord. You are the One who is always working things out together for my good. You are the one who knows my past and my present and my future and You’re knitting them all together.” And you begin to just acknowledge that He is God and you are not.
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
We lean back into trusting Him, not relying on our own understanding, and acknowledging that He is God – and now He can make our paths straight and plain.
So often we try to go straight to step number 4.
We try to ask Him, “Lord, where do we go? What do we do? What does it look like?” – but we’ve missed the first 3 steps.
And the first 3 steps are foundational to Him because He wants our relationship with Him to go deeper. He’s not an ATM that just gives ‘answers on demand’ – He is our loving Father.
When we come from that place of deep relationship, then He delights in revealing where we’re going, what we’re doing and how He will look after us through it all.
So, whenever you find the ground shaky beneath you, whenever you find yourself wobbly – just go back to these verses and stand on them and let the Holy spirit take you on a journey of remembering how much your Father loves to walk through life with you.
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Connect with Lisa van den Berg at The Ways of Wisdom where she can coach you to confidently hear the voice of God and learn how to get His direction for your life.
