When it comes to making the best decisions about your life, no one knows you better than God. Here’s how to make Him a part of your process.
If you had access to the best expert in your field, would you take their advice? Or would you just go it alone, relying on what you know? What about an expert for your life: not only career, but physical, emotional and spiritual well-being? Questions about any and every type of goal you might make.
When I was a child, I once tried to make a wooden shelf. Mind you, I had no woodworking skills nor knowledge. My father, an industrial arts teacher, asked if I needed any help but my independent streak and pride would not allow it. After all, I thought, how hard can this be? I just need to fasten some pieces of wood together, and the shelf will be built in no time.
Sadly, the shelf was not built as I imagined. Without any plans, skills or knowledge I semi-attached one side but never could figure out how to attach the other. Just trying to assemble it on my own without any instruction was not very achievable. It was only after much time, effort and a few tears that I asked my father for help. He patiently explained the various stages needed to make the shelf: having a drawing or plan; procuring the material and equipment; measuring and cutting the pieces; pre-drilling the holes for easier assembly; assembling it. As we worked through each stage, I learned more about the process and more of the “teacher” side of my dad. With his expertise I was able to achieve my goal of a small wooden shelf.
The Universal Expert
For many years, I remained stubbornly independent with regard to my life choices and goals. While I believed in God, I never thought to ask Him for advice over any decisions or plans that I made. I can figure this out myself. It was a good friend who reminded me that the One who created the universe also created me. He knows me as I am and as I will be. More than anyone else, God loves me and wants the best for me.
God tenderly cares for each one of us and wants to be part of our life’s decisions. In my stubbornness to figure it out all by myself, I had overlooked the Universal Expert: The God who promised Jeremiah a future, not to harm but to bless. That same God also wants to bless me and you.
Sadly, I don’t always remember to ask God to be part of my discernment process. The old stubbornness and pride have a way of rearing their ugly heads, but when I do consult with God about life’s decisions, I find that I experience emotional and spiritual growth.
The Benefit of Consulting God
- Humility: When we consult with God, we admit that we do not know everything. Just like my asking my dad for help with the woodworking, I need God’s help in decisions for my life. By humbly submitting to the Creator of the Universe, we admit that He does know a thing or two about our lives. God can work with us and can bestow the grace that He desires to give. We are open then to exploring the different goals that He provides rather than settle for what we originally intended.
- Peace: As we seek God first, we find that our attitude changes. Recognizing our humility—that we do not have all the answers and that we are not as independent as we think we are—frees us and provides peace of mind. While each of us is responsible for our choices in life, seeking God’s guidance frees us from second-guessing. We can rest assured that God has the best outcome for us at the best time and circumstance.
Seeking God’s help doesn’t guarantee that situations will magically go according to our plans, but it does guarantee a peace that passes all understanding. When we recognize that God has a plan for us and we ask Him to guide our steps, there will be peace in knowing that those goals will be met in the right time and the right place.
- Faith and Hope: Asking the Universal Expert stretches our faith and gives us hope. When we seek God first in our plans and goals, our faith increases. We may not know exactly what God has in mind with the finished goal, but we trust Him that it will be the best. With each new goal and decision, we can be more confident in relying on God. As He guided us in the past, He will also do so with the future. In building the shelf with my dad, I wasn’t all too sure of what it might look like but with every stage that we completed, I could see that we were on the right track. Under dad’s guidance, I had confidence that the finished shelf would work.
The Psalmist reminds us that we should trust the Lord and not lean on our own understanding. When we ask God for His help in our decisions, we are entering into that trust through faith. With each goal and with each stretch of our faith, we develop hope, believing that He will do what He says both now and in the future.
How to Consult God
- Pray: God delights in our asking Him about our life’s goals. He wants us to trust Him and to seek Him. When we pray and ask for His guidance, we are trusting in Him and His answers. When we ask for His guidance, we are communicating with Him. We are telling God our heart’s desires, and we are hearing His response to us. In building the shelf, my dad and I spent much time talking about the project. He listened to what I envisioned. He would explain certain principles for building and how using those principles would achieve my vision. But we also communicated about other things too. He heard about my activities in school, friends, teachers, and I heard stories of his growing up years.
- Read the Bible: Seeking God first in our lives and asking for His input in our plans requires that we get to know Him. By reading His word, we are shaped and guided in life’s decisions. While I have never found a specific verse in the Bible that correlates only to me and my particular situation, nor have I ever had a “writing on the wall” answer to a specific question, I have found principles for my life. The more that I am steeped in the Bible, the more my decisions and my thinking are aligned with what I have read. Unconsciously I have a little more of God’s perspective on my life choices. The Apostle Paul reminds us that renewing our minds through God’s word transforms our outlook of the world. Our choices and goals become more like God’s choices and goals for us.
- Journal: Keeping a journal of thoughts, prayers, worries, ideas and goals is another way to communicate with God. Our journal entries become written prayers. We can reflect on what we asked and God’s answers. Years before my husband and I moved, I had asked God in my journal, “Where are you calling us, God?” Many times, I would circle back to this question with the answer being a specific town and state. I would write out my goals and vision for that place. However, as we became closer to actually moving, the practice of writing my requests and listening to His answers changed my thought process, goals and vision. No longer was the location my heart’s desire. I was able to listen to more of what God was asking and saying to me. Consequently, we ended up moving in a totally different direction and have been at peace knowing that this was exactly where God wanted us.
- Ask: When I was a young believer, I use to pooh-pooh the women who would talk about praying for a parking spot. God isn’t interested in those small things, I would think. Don’t bother Him with those details. In time, I realized that is not true. God delights in all that we do and all that we are interested in. Just recently in my ladies Bible study, one of the older women was reflecting on the “small things” that we might deem bothersome to God. She shared that when her children were little, she would always pray for a parking spot near the entrance of the food market. She had five little ones and could only physically hold onto four. Her eldest was told to hold on to mom’s jacket. As they would drive into the lot, she would pray out loud. She would ask God for safety as they crossed into the store. Each time she did so, she demonstrated to her children that God cares about all aspects, even the seemingly insignificant need for a nearby parking spot.
There is nothing too small in our lives that doesn’t interest God. The Apostle Paul also reminds us that with everything, we are to make known our requests to Him. God wants to know and be part of our goals and life’s decisions. He made us and wants us to be in community with Him. As we spend time with God in prayer and Bible study, we allow ourselves to align our goals with His. Our faith becomes stronger. With confidence and hope we can say, “not my will but Yours,” knowing that He designs the best goals possible for us.
