Letting God Lead?

All too often I run a head of God and try to push my own way. I'm slowly learning to step back, but it's a hard lesson.

Recently my prayer has been, “Lord, protect my family from all my good ideas!”

Multiple thoughts flash through my mind with seeming importance. When viewed at a distance, they just don’t matter all that much.

Finding a way to weed out that which should be pursued eludes me at times. I don’t hear God whispering in my ear, “Do this or do that.”

What I do have is His word.

If I’m in it regularly, I see more clearly.

It’s in the word that God shows what His desire is. It’s there for anyone who is willing to pick it up.

We read it, we ponder it, then we do our best to make decisions in view of what He has said.

Do you ever wish you could put out the fleece like Gideon? Lord if I should do this, let there be dew on the fleece? Oh, that would be so much easier!

I do ask God to close doors on things I shouldn’t be doing. But He has given me free will, so it’s still up to me to sit still and not kick the door down. Know what I mean?

I often feel like a wild child and not the mature Christian woman I hope to be. Thankfully God is full of grace.

This week the High 5 Moms are talking about letting God lead your blog and your projects. I’ve struggled to put my thoughts into words. Here is my meager offering on the topic:

Letting God lead the blog and other projects:

• Get in the word

It’s impossible to know what God thinks about anything without reading the Bible.

I once heard about a man who spent many of his younger years in Sunday school, only to leave the church as an adult. Sitting in a bar, ready to drown in his sorrows in a glass of something, those memory verses from Bible class kept jumping into his head. He eventually set the glass down a walked out of the bar. In time, he came back to God.

The word is powerful.

I also strive to remember this:

“The sum of Your word is truth,

And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.”

-Psalm 119:160

I can't pick and choose what I want to follow. The entirety of God's word is truth.

• Don’t rely on warm, fuzzy feelings or whispers in your ear.

Humans are fickle and easily swayed.

“The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick; who can understand it?”

– Jeremiah 17:9

I do think our guts can help guide us, but they should not be the sole source of decision-making.

The most reliable I find my feelings to be are when I say yes to something I shouldn't. Often a sick feeling begins immediately. That alerts me to the fact that I probably just did something I already knew I shouldn't do.

But then again, I'm not going to rely on that, doing the right things can produce a similar feeling! See what I mean: unreliable!

I was once a part of a direct sales company that rewarded distributors for high sales. I remember hearing women say that God told them to go for after this wonderful prize (a car). That it was okay to ignore their families for the many months it took to get there.

I’m sorry. I don’t think so.

(I'm not saying anyone who tries to make high sales or win a car is ignoring their families, this is just what some of these ladies actually said.)

Check those voices.

“. . .for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

– 2 Corinthians 11:14

 

• Pray

Ask God for wisdom. He gives it.

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

– James 1:5

Asking God for help, or for guidance is always a good idea. I think most of us know that we need to lay our ideas and desires at His feet. We just forget to sometimes.

Strive to make this a habit.

• Take note of your conscience

If you something is bugging your conscience, don’t do it! It will only come back as regret.

This applies even if everyone else is doing it.

Do the right thing.

“Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

– James 4:17

• Get advice from a trusted Christian friend

Sometimes an outsider’s opinion is all we need to see clearly.

Your husband, a sister or friend can remind you of what is truly important, even without saying much. Often the telling of our situation or ideas is enough to bring it all into focus.

• Check your motives

Ask yourself hard questions? Why do you want to do this? What is your desired outcome?

Be honest.

There are usually mixes of reasons for doing anything, and often some of those reasons are less than pure. It’s okay, just see them for what they are, then think about it, pray about it, talk about it. Then look again.

• Think about the end

Viewing everything is light of eternity is ridiculously helpful in decision-making. Don’t just take into account the fact that you want to help others get to heaven, remember your own soul too!

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?”

– Mark 8:36

I don't have a perfect formula for letting God lead my blog or projects and I don't believe it is something we can ever have completely figured out. Life throws us curve balls ever step of the way, we must continue to readjust.

Keep seeking to please God and you'll be on your way.

The other High 5 Moms will be blogging about this topic today. Kerimae has already shared some great thoughts.

Visit the other moms to see how they are letting God lead:

• Ponder The Path
• Happy Andersons
• The Marathon Mom
• A Happy Home

What are your thoughts on this? Have any advice for me?