You may feel stuck. At first, your situation looked great. It promised advantages, hope, joy, and happiness. It looked better than where you were, so you jumped. Now you’re not sure what to do.
(Photo by Photodune)
Turns out, it wasn’t the dream job, the ideal marriage, the best neighborhood, or the perfect church. It seems more like bait and switch.
It seemed the best decision, but now—you’re not so sure. You feel stuck.
What can you do when you’re not sure what to do?
Great Expectations
When expectations about what life “ought to be” go unmet for extended periods of time, our heart will want to drift into daydreams.
Longstanding bouts with tough circumstances cause the drift. Stuff like:
- a debilitating illness
- family issues
- sexual frustration
- money problems
- marital struggles
- general discontent
These and more offer the greatest temptations to daydream how great it would be to live in other “ideal” circumstances.
By Comparison
We’ll see some other person’s life and imagine that:
- If we had what they had, then we wouldn’t feel the way we do.
- If we only lived there, not here, then we would be a different person.
- If my father would only . . . if my spouse would finally . . . if God would simply . . . then all would be well.
This thinking is nonsense. But we think it, don’t we?
(Photo by Photodune)
Good Questions
Hasn’t the Lord promised to care for our needs? And if he chooses to wait to do so, and to cause us to wait to receive them, might he have a reason?
Because he is God, he has the prerogative to determine what’s best for us—including keeping from us what we really, really want—if he deems it wise.
Daydreams, on the other hand, often dwell on lies. With very few exceptions, tough circumstances simply reveal the holes in our hearts, not the holes in our lives. Situations usually reveal the areas where we need to grow. Our problem isn’t our meager circumstances as much as it is our heart’s refusal to trust in God’s sovereignty.
Daydreaming is a longing to be out of the will of God. When we imagine another reality for ourselves, we set our minds on our interests and not on God’s. (As if we could ever imagine a reality that’s better for us than God can.)
What to Do Next
When you feel stuck and you don’t know what to do next—here’s what to do. Do all you can to discover the way of obedience. Find the “next right thing”—the path that honors God.
Then take it, regardless of the cost, and wait there for God.
Tell me what you think: What’s your “next right thing”? To leave a comment, just click here.