Tag: navigatingtroubledwaters

Waiting on the Lord when you need an answer from Him, or direction, or a healing can be difficult. It’s those difficult times it seems like we are walking in a wilderness, or in still waters and we need to do some kedging (see the About page). We can’t see the light, we don’t know in what direction to turn, we search for answers to the point we become consumed with the problem. We need to consume ourselves with THE problem solver. Jesus.

So often we hear people tell us to “just give it to God”, “hand your problems to Him”, and, I like this one, “Try not to worry about it.” All given with good intent and probably for a lack of not knowing what to say. Even the Bible does tell us not to worry – Matthew 6:25 -34, but God also gives us some instruction in verse 33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness“. So when we read or hear those words, “Give it to God”, what does that look like? I believe that handing it over to God is going to vary slightly for everyone. But I do believe there are two important practices with which we can start. First, we need to pray and read God’s Word. (Those two go hand in hand) Obvious I know, but it’s how we pray; pray specifically. God knows our situation, after all He is in control and nothing surprises Him, – Hebrews 4:13, but He still waits and wants to hear from His children. So perhaps we can pray specifically for putting the right people in our paths to encourage, speak truth to us, and that our eyes and hearts are open to them. There’s a quote in a book by Ruth Chou Simons titled Gracelaced, an awesome devotional, beautifully illustrated in watercolors and photographs that takes you through the truths from God’s Word as you transition through seasons of life. There is one quote that really stood out to me. “God is more interested in your desperate need for His lamp-lit direction than your path-paving skills.” By praying and reading God’s Word, getting to know Him more, and growing closer to Him, we will begin to focus less on our current situation and more on Him and what He has to say to us. We also begin to see the light on His path, just enough for the next step. That’s all we need. Any more would overwhelm us and if we knew more than we needed, we would be relying on that knowledge and not trusting God and “His lamp-lit direction”. Besides we only have today, not yesterday, and tomorrow is history. Focus on scripture, write out a scripture verse for the day, carry it with you, memorize it, draw it, paint it, sing it, whatever is going to help you remember it. This needs to be a daily practice. And when we come out of this wilderness, hopefully we are still practicing this important step.

The second thing we can do is serve. Text a friend ask them “how can I pray for you today?” and pray for them. A handwritten note is always encouraging and who doesn’t like to get a nice surprise in the mail? Ask to serve at church, a local non-profit, look to your neighbors, ask a friend if you can babysit so they can have a date night, mow a lawn, etc. I know serving may look different in this current state of lockdown and limited mobility. But there are ways to get creative. It may be just serving your family at home. Serving others helps get our minds off ourselves and our problems.

“God is more interested in your desperate need for His lamp-lit direction than your path-paving skills.”

Ruth Chou Simons

This is not to say that worry isn’t going to creep in. If you’re like me, “ok God, not going to worry about this, this is yours to handle, Amen.” LOL right? Ten seconds later, I’m back where I started. That’s ok. We. Are. Human. And once again, God isn’t surprised. So we need to recognize our worry and hand it back over to God with a prayer of asking for forgiveness and moving forward. Pick up the verse you wrote down and read it again, this time from memory, if you can. This is also not to say we can’t do anything at all. If it’s a financial struggle, a health issue, a relationship issue, a spiritual battle, whatever it is we are trying to navigate, we can still do a part. For example, if it’s a health issue, we can research healthy ways to combat it or search for a doctor that specializes in the health issue, but what we can’t do is obsess over it. And we will, from time to time, find ourselves obsessing. That’s when we need to repent and release it back to God. Walk away from it, regain our focus. As it was said in Hope for the Future Part 2, “While it’s good to plan and prepare responsibly, it’s bad to dwell and worry about all the ways our planning could go wrong.”

So when we feel like we are wandering or sailing in uncharted waters, seeking God’s “lamp-lit direction” by “kedging” (spiritual kedging) or pulling closer to Him, seeking Him in His Word daily, we allow God to show us the light and lead us in the right direction.

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Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash