No Clear Direction

At times in life one comes to a cross roads of sorts where you have no direction, no ideas on what you want to do with your life, no idea where you want to live or plant roots, life in general is just up in the air.

The question posed during such a time is what is the right thing to do, what is the best decision to make.

Recently I have struggled with such questions. Finding myself as a single man with diminishing community and living in a place where it seems there are more people who hold opposing world views then to my own, I came to a point of questioning where a younger person is to find good community, especially among peers. As one may expect prolonged time spent in such a state can eventually lead to loneliness, which seems to be high among younger generations in today's world. This can feel even worse when one feels they aren't doing anything worth while or of consequence. When the daily life seems to lack meaning and purpose. A lack of true direction.

Some people would call it quits and throw in the towel. Others look for ways to change their situation so the weight of such struggles don't crush them.

To explain where I had begun to search for the answer to such a question was to pray and to see what the Bible may say to such questions. As I was searching for answers I ended reading the text of the Israelites leaving slavery in Egypt to wander the wilderness until they reached the promised land. One thing I realized during this was before the Israelites were allowed to enter the promised land all who believed slavery in Egypt was better than following and obey God even in times of hardship and uncertainty passed away. To enter the promised land the people could not hold onto and long for what they once lived under. (As I write this I can't help but wonder if this is a parallel to what it means to follow Christ. Perhaps it is but that's not really the point here.) Back to the point as I realized this the thought came to me that perhaps it was time to look at moving away from my home town. So I tested it and went to a place fairly unknown to me, a new town a new state for a week to check out the area and what it was like. What I found was more uncertainty, though I enjoyed the stay I still had to figure out if moving was what the right thing to do was. So next I sought out wise counsel and most whom I spoke with recommended moving on. So I had it in my mind that moving was the right call I just wasn't quite sure where yet. Still more uncertainty.

All this changed this past week. The small church I have been serving was in a mobile setup so set up and tear down every week and didn't seem like much focus was on growth. (Mind you I am one of the youngest people currently there), but the church just recently got a semi permanent building and there are plans for growth. And this past week I was pulled into a leadership type meeting in which I was allowed to see the direction and also offer feedback towards ways to potentially grow. It was humbling and I am grateful for that opportunity because it answered my search for what to do in life.

All in all I guess this is to say not only does it bring home the point to me that man may make his plans in his heart but God orders his footsteps, but also that if you continue to trust him and serve and obey him to the best of your ability sooner or later answers to uncertainty will appear.

So if you are in a place of uncertainty in life, whether its career, relationships, community, where to live, life purpose or mission, etc. Whatever it is the best thing is to just have faith in God and trust that even though you may not know the answer to your question, he does and sooner or later he will reveal it to you.

Trust God and wait on his timing and his answer, then obey and follow his direction.

Hope this helps.