7 Myths Women Believe & the Biblical Truths Behind ThemMfano

The Myth: “I Need God To Reveal His Plan For My Life Before I Can Make A Decision”

Life is full of surprises. The most surprising place God called me was to unemployment. I was in a job that I didn’t hate, but I didn’t love it either. I could sense it was time for a change, but I thought the perfect job would come along at the right time, and then I would gracefully transition into it. After all, I had experience in quite a few different jobs before starting this one. My résumé looked pretty good. I considered myself marketable. I was sure I could get a better job in no time after I put some feelers out there.

So I sat back and waited for that perfect opportunity to come my way. I waited. And I waited. Hello, God. This would be a really good time for you to show up, I remember praying. However, all the time I was waiting on God to do something, God was actually waiting for me to make the first move. I didn’t want to do it. I was really scared to do it. But after several months of job searching with no opportunities, I quit. I quit my job without having another one lined up.

Even the daredevil, Evel Knievel—the guy who jumped his motorcycle over 18-wheelers and walked out onto the wings of jet airplanes—knew the first principle of wing-walking: “Don’t let go of something unless you have a firm grasp on something else.” I don’t recommend doing what I did. My mother doesn’t recommend it. No one recommends it. However, that’s what I sensed God wanted me to do. Within thirty days of leaving my former job, guess what happened? A temp job opened up that helped me make ends meet for six months! It’s in a field that I’m really interested in, and I’m excited to see what happens next. I’m still stepping out in faith each day, expecting God to provide for me, however that looks.

Ten years ago I don’t think I would have been able to do what I did. Two years ago I wouldn’t have done it. I had always believed that following God’s will meant having absolute certainty about his plan. I was never certain I understood the plan, so I rarely stepped out in faith.

I still didn’t understand his plan when I left my job, but this time was different. I stepped out in faith anyway. And his provision showed up.

The Truth

Scripture has this to say about following God’s plan, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see . . . By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:1,8, emphasis added). Are you in the middle of one of life’s surprises right now? Are you at a place you never expected to be? Are you unsure of what will happen next?

Welcome to reality.

While the myth that we should "know" God’s plan for our lives still floats around Christian circles, the truth is quite different.

We live by faith and not by sight (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). If you knew every aspect of God’s plan for your life, clearly labeled in triplicate form, why would you need faith?

The moment of absolute certainty rarely comes. Consider Abraham. He didn’t have a clue where he was going. But he went anyway. Think of Samuel, whom God called as a child. Do you think a young boy understood the scope of God’s plan for his life? Certainly not. But these people moved forward in faith, as did all the spiritual heroes.

We must move forward. In preparation, we pray and seek godly counsel. We search the Scriptures and meditate on God’s truths. And then it comes time to decide. To make a move. We may not feel ready or certain, but God lovingly gives us a chance to flex our faith and trust him for the outcome.

The Bible is about people in a fluid, dynamic relationship with God. It’s not a treasure map. It’s not a blueprint spelling out Steps A, B and C for God’s plan for you. Instead of outlining methods to find God’s plan, it teaches the principles of finding God’s heart. The living God leads through relationship. When we understand this, we start to seek his face, not his hand. We stop wanting to find God’s plan so that we might find God instead. No longer capriciously wanting the “answer,” we want the one who knows the answer.