The Next Steps

These days when my mind seems blank and I’m not sure of what is expected of me, God gives me more ‘big picture’ verses. This morning I read where Job says that “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28). This is good, but it does not tell me specifically what He wants me to do today.

Last night I attended a meeting at our church. One of the older women called a few of us together to discuss women’s ministry. We have several things going but there is no overseer or a cohesiveness between the various activities for women. At one point in the meeting, I said that I am a detail person and find it extremely difficult to set a vision, but it seems to me that is what we need. We also need to survey the ladies in our church to determine what we have to work with. What are their needs? What are their skills? What do they want and what can we offer?

Even as I said it, the sense of not knowing where God wants me in this was overwhelming. I am a “what can I do now” person, and God usually shows me “the next thing” so I can get on with it. The past few days I’ve felt as if I’ve been tossed in the air and have no idea where I am going to land.

My devotional reading today is about wisdom too. It sends me to Proverbs 8:20 in a section where wisdom is personified and is speaking about itself. Wisdom says, “I traverse the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice” and finishes with saying that wisdom gives wealth to those who walk in it. This is another general principle and while I’m not so much interested in wealth, I’d really like God to show me where to put my next footstep.

The way of righteousness is the path. Justice is the path too. Clearly those are the places God wants me to walk, yet I’m having a tough time translating that into Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. I’m used to Him saying, “It’s time to pray” or “Elsie, get at that chore you have been procrastinating over” or “It’s time to call so-and-so because she needs to hear from you.”

The reading also reminds me that the mysteries of God are revealed. They are such that even the angels desire to look into them, but “the depth of these mysteries overpasses even the faculties of the angels.” Unless God opens His will to me, I cannot discover it.

I am aware of being tested. Will I wait on God? Or will I shrug my shoulders and make my own plans? I’m fully aware that if I do the latter, there will be no fruit. It will be like playing Spider Solitaire for two hours or watching television all evening. It might be fun or interesting, but both take me off the path. Instead, I need to stay put, take care of the ordinary responsibilities (I already know I need to wash dishes, make the bed, weed the garden . . . ) and wait for Him to reveal the next steps.