Have you ever wondered what comes next? Where to live? When to move out of your parents house? What college or grad school should I go to? Who am I going to marry? Should I marry Him? What's my purpose? Have I reached the destination of God's will? I know the feeling. We constantly ask God these questions day in and day out, but it seems like we don't get an answer most of the time or at least not in time. It's frustrating and annoying and all of the above, but think about God. Imagine this, the "Are we there yet?" question is being asked to God 24/7 by hundreds of thousands of people. Now, how annoying would that be? So much more than the frustration we feel.
The questions of life we deal with every day and the decisions to make on a daily basis can easily go from worry, worry, worry to peace, peace, peace in a split second. The reason why God did not give us a map to our lives is because He has called us to trust Him and walk by faith. I mean TRUST Him. Not just say, "Oh, yeah I totally trust you, God!" I'm talking about the kind of trust where you take His hand as He leads you down a dark ally in the unknown city of your choice, let's say New York. This is a life or death situation and you're grabbing onto His hand because you REALLY trust in Him and His plan. That's the kind of trust I'm talking about.
It's so cliche to hear the phrase, "Trust in God" or "Have faith" or "Live by faith". It's tough to understand what that really means sometimes, but God has put it plainly for us. Walking by faith, trusting God, living by faith are all saying, "Take the risks that come your way". Not to tell you to take the risk of jumping in front of oncoming traffic, but the risks that make you feel like you have no idea what you're doing, but you're trusting God because He has told you to take the risk head on. Leaving a job that has great pay, benefits, and coworkers would be difficult especially if you had no idea what was next. And 3 years down the road you discover what it was that's next and it made it all worth leaving that great job because God had a plan and you trusted in Him.
Faith is the foundation of this thing we call "Walking with Jesus". We must first learn how to walk well with God before we can just jump off the cliff of the unknown and start working for Him. Walking takes time and practice, but God knows that and He is patient with us. He has all the time in the world if we needed it. He's going to challenge us and we might fall down or miss our opportunity to "work" for Him, but He is full of second chances. We've just got to keep persevering, striving for a relationship with Him and He is going to guide us in the right place at just the right time with just the right people and give us just the right words and actions to say and do.
Knowing God's will is not our purpose, but living by faith and walking WITH Him is our true purpose. All of the great works and our gifts that He has bestowed in us will eventually come forth as we grow in our relationship with Him, but first we must WALK and not run. The answers to those questions and the worry that comes from freaking out about what's next can become eased and we'll have peace if we just take a step back and trust God and walk by faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we live by faith, not by sight.
Hebrews 11:1
For faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Take time today and read Hebrews 11. Also, skim through Hebrews 12 for encouragement from the Lord.
These are ancient stories of great faith and unknowns. These people trusted God. They put their entire lives in His hands and He used them for great and miraculous things.