Real Hope: Uncertainty & DoubtNäide

Drive Close

I realized early in following Jesus that God wanted me to grow in seeking His will. Non-believers around me thought I was crazy, and some older believers too, who wanted to stay in a comfort zone, like a ship in a harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for!

After I made a few bumpy starts, a wise friend guided me to make sure I was finding God’s will. He started with Ephesians 5:17, then said:

1. Don’t rush. If a desire is from God, it will remain and grow; human enthusiasm will fade.

2. Expect God to indicate in daily Bible readings that the project is right. Don’t search for verses to justify the desire.

3. Ask God to give a "beacon" to show the timing is right: circumstances that squeeze the comfort zone, directing you into His will.

Patience is needed for the right timing. We may run ahead, thinking we know God’s will only to find people and structures for God’s project are not in place yet. As a harbor master of a particularly dangerous port commented to an enquiring ship’s captain, "As I come into the harbor, I must go through the middle of the two buoys at the entrance. I line the ship up with those two masts standing one behind each other on the beach. But I can’t proceed until the two lighthouses on that distant hill are in line with each other. When all three are in line, I know I’m clear of all the rocks, going in the right direction."

There may still be doubts, and people who see will understand, but it will encourage them to trust God also. There will always be times of uncertainty. Let that drive us close to God to wait for His guidance. Then move when He indicates GO.

Written by DAVID SMETHURST