Life, at times, can be confusing. The twists, the turns, and the expectancies often leave us feeling lost and uncertain. One moment, we seem to be sailing smoothly, and the next, we’re tossed about in stormy seas that make it extremely difficult to navigate. When a direction requires a decision to be made, it can sometimes be hard to discern the best path forward. Even with the greatest of plans and intentions, the unpredictability of life can throw us off course, leaving us confused, frustrated, and searching for answers. Compounding the already difficult of knowing what to do, with all of the voices around us and within us, life can become downright overwhelming.

I, like many of you, have found it sometimes difficult to know exactly what God's will would be at any given moment about any certain decision. People sometimes believe pastors wake up to angels who illuminate the room and write coded messages across the wall, revealing secrets that only some spiritual elite are privy to. Or maybe when we open our Bibles, we hear angelic symphonies that harmonize a specific message of clear revelation as to exactly everything we’re supposed to do. While I wished that this was true, it is only a delusion on the part of those who might think it. Pastors, like everyone else, must learn to navigate the perplexities of life. This is an area that we all have in common. We all have personal, parental, emotional, and financial quandaries. When deciding the direction for our families, we don’t always know the immediate best. Should a decision regarding aging parents and their care need to be made, it can be concerning and confusing. If we are facing a health crisis and having to deliberate through conflicting opinions, it can be terrifying. From making choices that involve our families, finances, and health to decisions made regarding our jobs, where we live, or what we do with our kids, it can sometimes feel incomprehensible. Some of these massively important decisions will breed fear and anxiety when clarity is an issue.

Something I am learning is that in the preparation to do God's will, I must ensure that I have clarity from God's Word. How can we claim to know God if we don’t know His Word? It is how He most clearly reveals Himself. How can we be obedient to the will of God if we don’t start with obedience to the Word of God? I have come to this conclusion:

I don’t always have to have clarity on God's will if I am confident in God's Word.

If that raises objections, trust me, I understand. When the thought made its way to the prefrontal cortex of my brain, I protested the idea. The original contemplation was contrary to how I have always thought and conflicted with how I had been trained. I’ve been told most of my life to ‘FIND’ the will of God, to ‘KNOW’ the will of God, and then just do it! To even think that it would be ok to not have complete clarity on the will of God sent sensors off in my mind, red lights in my brain, and antennas up over my head. Recently, God has established something that I wished I had connected with earlier. Truth is, I have spent most of my adult life more concerned about the direction I was going than the dialogue with God I was having. Most of my energy and effort has been expended on trying to figure out a specific direction rather than just knowing and trusting His specific promises. Contained in His Word: The Bible.

So, I’m ok with accepting that I may not always have clarity on His will, but I must always be confident in His Word. You probably want a verse for this; I did too, and God gave it to me. In the great chapter of faith, Hebrews 11, says, “Abraham, when he was called to go out ... obeyed; and went out, not knowing where he went.” No map, no direction, no exact word on exactly where he was headed. Just go. The patriarch didn’t exactly know the direction, but he knew God's Word. Abraham learned a valuable lesson, as should we; That following God is more about resting in His Sovereignty than wrestling with our ambiguity. I am learning that for me to embrace God's will for my life, I must transfer confidence from my minuscule capacity to understand what’s going on to God's omniscient and clear directives from His Word. God's purpose may not always be explained, and God's path may not always seem clear, but we can rest assured that His promises are unblemished and well-defined. C.H. Spurgeon said, “When you cannot trace His hand, you can always trust His heart.” His heart is on the pages of your Bible, and He has a promise for you. So, if you have a big or scary decision in your life and you’re not certain what to do, let me leave you with this: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6).