What To Do?

This week I had three friends call for help.  “Can you pray?  What do you think I should do?  Am I losing it?” were some of the questions I was answering. 

Some of those problems involved job changes, a family relationship and illness. 

They were not easy questions, and I felt a heavy weight for each of these friends as I prayed with them. 

And the last question that my friend asked me over a cup of coffee was this, “How do you know it’s God when you’re moving ahead?  How can I be sure it’s just not my own voice trying to make sense or reason?”

As a leader in various churches over the past years, and now leader of women with Best Life, I have faced that question many times and it always led me to my father.  I’d ask him,

My father said, “Let’s make it simple for you and people, and develop 3 steps.”  I loved that about College-Professor-Dad! 

Here’s what I learned: 

How To Hear From God: 

1. Seek God diligently in prayer.  “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7. New Living Translation.
2. Read Your Bible. “By Your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back from living by your righteous order. Everything’s falling apart on me, God; put me together again with your Word.” Psalm 119:105. The Message
3. Ask your spouse (if you’re married) and then a friend. “Make plans by seeking advice.” Proverbs 20:18a. New International Version 

As I would sit down to work through a problem, I would pray, read my Bible for any situation where God could speak to me, and then I’d open my ears up to a couple of pastors, my dad, a friend, to see what they thought. 

Most recently, I realized that as a spouse of 7 years this summer, I had developed a pattern of asking others without starting with God and then my husband!  What was I thinking!  I had developed an unhealthy pattern, from being single for a while, of consulting Dad, and had forgotten to put Deano right after God!  

I quickly have gotten my God-given priorities in order now, and am using my model above, from Dad, but added in the spouse.  It’s putting my husband in his rightful place now! 

This week, I found myself talking with someone and asked, “What does your wife think about this job change?”  And later, a young woman who asked for advice, I asked what her pastor and parents thought, since she was single. 

God wants us to start with Him.  Seek Him first through prayer and scripture.  Then, ask for wise counsel.  And I look for God revealing truths in everything that is unfolding. 

For example, is that job something that is a heart’s desire, is it better, if not the same pay, will it be great for the whole family, and is it a place where you feel God could really use you? 

Or with my friend who was ill, I asked her, with the three doctors she had visited, what are the commonalities of what they have recommended for treatment? 

 

Next time you’re wondering about what to do, here is my #4 that I have now added to Dad’s advice: 

4.   Find scriptural promises, and tape them up all over your life!  (in the car, on the mirror, in your Bible, next to your calendar or clock!) “I will always show you where to go, I will give you a full life in the emptiest of places.” Isaiah 58:11 The Message. 

And lastly, as a musician, I have to recommend that you throw some great music into your ipod and start claiming truths from the music.  Here are some great tunes to get you feeling excited about what God will reveal in your situation: 

1.  Carry You-Amy Grant
2. I Go to the Rock –Aaron and Jeoffrey
3. When  I Am Afraid-Laura Hackett
4. Completely-Ana Laura
5. He Lifts Me Up-Audio Adrenaline
6. I Can Hear You-Carolyn Arends
7. Lifesong-Casting Crowns
8. In Your Hands-Christy Nockels
9. I Stand Amazed-hymn
10. You Are My Strength-Hillsong 

Today, if you’re seeking God for decisions, I pray for you and trust that you will seek God diligently, search the scriptures, and phone a friend….