Following God into the unknown can be a jumbled up mix of excitement, anxiety, wonderment, and fear. When you are feeling Him calling you to move in a direction that you didn’t see coming, it is very easy to begin questioning. You start asking all those what ifs…what if I fail, what if I heard Him wrong, what if this or that doesn’t happen. The list of what ifs can go on and on and on…
I know about these questions because God is now calling us into the unknown.
This summer my husband was notified that his position is being eliminated by the end of June 2022. After a lot of prayer, searching for job postings (there are very few openings in his field), and going down various rabbit holes, we both felt like God was calling us to something different. We weren’t sure what it was, but we knew He had something else in mind. And then one Sunday, as he was guest preaching at our little country church we love so much, I received a vision of our new life – at least, I thought I did.
But before I tell you about that part, there are three things that have become so clear in this path through the unknown.
Following God into the unknown requires prayer, and a lot of it!
In the beginning, we were just praying for direction. We had no idea what we were supposed to do or where we were supposed to go. We prayed constantly for God to reveal His plan, to point us in the right direction, to guide us to make the right decisions.
In true form, God did not just sit us down and say “ok, here’s the plan.” However, He has been faithful to reveal pieces as we have begun walking this journey. They have been random pieces here and there, but they are still pieces revealed in His perfect timing.
At one point in our many discussions, I said it is like we are putting together a puzzle. Right now we are still putting together the outside pieces and we can’t start working on the center pieces until those outside pieces are in place. To which my husband responded, it’s more like all the pieces have been dumped on the table and the box with the picture has been thrown away. Can you tell how different we view life’s situations?
In order to put our puzzle together, we have to pray we find the pieces that fit together at the right time without that final picture to guide us as we are deciding which pieces to pick up. It is very possible we may not get to finish putting all those pieces together before we start out on this new journey.
There is freedom in following God into the unknown.
When my husband was told about his position ending, he said he actually felt surprisingly free. As he told me this, I started thinking how much freedom we can find in the unknown.
We both had been feeling God telling us a change was coming over this next year. We even asked a realtor friend to come by the house to help us determine what our priorities should be if we needed to sell. One week later, my husband received the news that would confirm what we were feeling.
God knew this change was happening long before we did. He already has a plan for what is coming next and already knows the steps we need to take to get there. We just have to be willing to let Him take the lead and follow Him along the way.
Despite all the searching and questioning and wading through the emotions, we found FREEDOM in the unknown.
Instead of focusing on the questions, the fear, or the anxiety, we focus on the freedom. The freedom in knowing -“I have a plan for you….”
We have to focus on the knowns, not the unknowns.
Our daughter was struggling in the beginning. She was getting anxious with so many unknowns. One day as we were taking a walk with my grandson, we had the opportunity to talk through the things she was struggling with. I felt the prodding to talk to her about focusing on the knowns. We listed what we knew at that moment, which were few. However, I helped her see that as we continued on the journey, God would reveal more and more knowns. The knowns will grow and eventually there will be more knowns than unknowns.
So, in those moments of anxiety, celebrate the knowns! Pray through the questions and focus on the freedom of knowing God already has the details all planned out.
So, what is this vision I had one Sunday morning? Where is God calling us next? I’ll share that story soon. The puzzle pieces are slowing being put into place, but the complete picture is still a bit fuzzy.
For now, we continue on this journey of following God into the unknown.
Other posts you might like
While We Are Waiting for God to Act
Pin for later
[…] Following God into the Unknown […]