Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t have a clue about what to do? Richard Roberts and I believe we all have times when we feel clueless. Recently I found myself in one of those situations: I just didn’t know what to do. I had thought a lot about it, and I had talked to friends about it, but I felt like I was hitting a brick wall. Then I realized why I hadn’t gone to God! I had gotten so wrapped up in my circumstances that I forgot to invite God into my situation.
You’re not alone
Richard Roberts and I think that happens to a lot of us. We’re confronted with a problem that begins to overwhelm us, and then satan moves in like a thief, ready to steal our thought processes and confuse us…and we forget God is right beside us.
Luke 8:22-25 tells us about a time when even the disciples forgot that Jesus was with them in the midst of one of their trials! Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee. A fierce storm arose, and the wind and waves threatened to turn the boat over. The disciples panicked. But then they remembered that Jesus was with them, asleep in the boat. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” So Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves. The storm stopped and all was calm! Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:24-25 NLT). Just like the disciples, it wasn’t until I was in the middle of my recent problem that it dawned on me that God was right there with me.
Just ask
When we’re facing difficult or perplexing situations, and we don’t know what to do, we can run around in circles trying to find the solutions to our problems. Or we can do what James 1:5-6 NKJV tells us to do: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
Ask of God. That’s what I needed to do in my situation. But instead of going to the Throne, I had gone to the phone…asking everyone else for their advice. And I was feeling exactly like that storm-tossed wave…going to and fro, to and fro. When I realized what I had done, I sat down and got honest with God. I said, “Lord, I’m clueless about what to do. But I know You’re not. Please give me wisdom and help me know what to do.” And it wasn’t until I did that that I finally knew how to deal with my situation. We can talk with our friends, we can ask family members for advice, but when it comes down to it, God is the one whose help we really need. Sometimes we make things so much harder than they are. We forget that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly far above anything we would ever dare to ask or hope (Ephesians 3:20). And He’s always there for us. In Jeremiah 33:3 MSG He tells us, “Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.”
We have to do the knocking…we have to do the seeking…we have to do the asking (Matthew 7:7). The faith part is our job. The miracle part is God’s.