I had taken a hiatus from writing, to do a little soul searching and deep dive into another communicative passion of mine, painting. Yet God keeps bringing me back to writing with little nudges and encouragements. That still small voice is elusive, yet present. So thank you for your patience as I recharged my writing batteries. I hope it will prove fruitful for both of us.
So how do we know where to direct our energies? How do we hear God’s still, small, yet persistent voice? Our desire is to walk on God’s chosen path but so often it seems hidden and obscured like an overgrown trail. I don’t have all the answers, but I can share what has been working for me. The path is rarely illuminated with neon flashing signs, much to my dismay, but often feels more like a team scavenger hunt. Sometimes I have to forge ahead blindfolded with nothing but my faith and intentions, sometimes I actually feel God has taken my hand and pulled me down a specific trail. The key is, regardless of how you feel, to move forward anyway, trusting that even if you can’t hear God’s voice, He is walking beside you, ever vigilant and holding the flashlight out in front of us.
The first thing I find essential to my quest for confidence is examination. I pause to examine my interests, passions, or innate talents that God has created as part of my DNA. Ask yourself what gives you energy? What do you enjoy doing or learning so much that you could devote a whole day to it. What have others told you you have a knack for? What never gets old? It’s okay if these change over time, you may be surprised how God doubles you back and weaves skills together years later. A few cautions here. There are healthy and unhealthy passions- ask yourself if, when you find yourself immersed in an interest that seems relentless, is this something that could benefit anyone other than yourself? Would your pursuit of this interest bring harm or negatively affect others? Sometimes, the same passion can be pursued with positive or negative outcomes, so be sure your motives are intentional and beneficial to yourself and others. Make sure you are pursuing your interest with passion and determination but with balance. Be relentless, but mindful of keeping your relationships and responsibilities in balance and not neglecting the necessary cogs and wheels of life. If it’s from God, you can bet it will be beneficial to you as well as others, it will allow you to love others through your pursuit, and it will allow you to glorify God while pursuing it. Perhaps ask (and pray about) what it is God put you on earth to do? How can the unique set of skills, abilities, and interests He created you with benefit humanity? Don’t ever let your mind get enticed by imagining what others might think or say, you are uniquely you and it is imperative you give precedence to what God is calling you to do. No mere mortal can possibly imagine or know the incredible plan God has designed for your life and yours alone.
“Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace.” 1 Peter 4:10
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord…” Colossians 3:23
Once I have honed in on my God-given interests and passions the next essential task is execution Make a plan, set goals. What is it going to take to learn what you need to learn, to grow in the areas you need to grow, to continue to improve and make progress? It is rare that God gives you a dream that doesn’t require participation, difficulty, and effort on your part. So create a game plan, what does a best case scenario look like? What steps need to be in place for that to happen? What do you need to do next? Establish a vision for what you feel the Lord wants you to do and what the non-negotiables may be. Do not lose sight of incorporating how this vision is going to benefit others, He most certainly has plans to bless you (Jeremiah 29:11) but you’ll notice from the stories in the Bible that there is always a big picture plan that blesses thousands of others, not just the story’s hero. The dreaming and imagining can be done as you lay down each evening and prior to rising each day, but in between times, the work and effort has to take place.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord…” Colossians 3:23
“Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.” Romans 12:11
Perhaps the most difficult step to control is to expect success. I feel obliged to warn you that there will be speed bumps in the form of people feeding your negativity, telling you that you can’t or shouldn’t be trying or criticizing you. Most often the loudest naysayer, however, will be your own brain. Take responsibility for your thought life, and don’t allow any negativity to creep in, Pray for wisdom, and then kick the negative self- talk to the gutter where it belongs. You can be sure God will not talk in a slanderous or negative way to a beloved child he created in His own image and adopted into His personal family (if you’ve accepted the gift of forgiveness and salvation from Jesus, that’s you by the way!) Expect progress, pray for progress, trust God to move with, in, and through you!
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24
Finally, the last tip I have found beneficial is simply endurance. Dreams, interests, and talents may initially come with energetic ease, but you probably aren’t going to get God’s blessing to simply dream and passively sit back and wait. He is going to expect you to move into your dream and talents by doing, by possibly failing, learning, and trying again. It takes faith, and lots of it. It’s the human way, but if He gave you that dream, and gave you those abilities, He will accept those struggling steps as steps of faith and your perseverance will be rewarded. There may be obstacles that life throws at you in the form of unexpected expenses, illnesses, and interruptions which may slow your progress down, but don’t let mere obstacles stop you from pursuing what God has placed in your heart. Equally important, do not let a timeline discourage you. Moses, Joseph, David, and even Jesus executed God’s plan for their lives over the course of years, not days, so set your sites on the execution of your plan on a step by step basis. Do not let yourself look up for the goal line and get discouraged simply because it seems far off. Baby steps may be small, but they are progress nonetheless, and necessary for big steps later down the journey.
“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. he delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Psalm 37:23-24
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Proverbs 16:9
A Peace of Humble Pie 