WHEN YOUR HEART LONGS FOR DIRECTION FROM GOD

The question I get by far the most from sweet readers of this little blog is this…

“How do I know God’s will for my life?” This question comes through emails in a variety of ways, and I hear the ache and the confliction in however the question is worded. It may sound more like, “How do I figure out which way God wants me to go?” or “How do I know which path God wants me to take?” and this one too, “Would God open a door that He doesn’t want me to go through?”

I feel the heart behind the questions because my own heart has felt the questions. I don’t know why or how some of you dear ones feel like you can bring me these questions of your heart, but I want you to know that I am beyond honored and grateful to get to point your heart to God’s grace and love….so I keep on pointing to grace. So today, here’s a scoopful of it that I hope takes some of the pressure off your heart:

We plan and strategize and try to figure out God’s will for us, but all He asks is that we remain in Him. The doing, the plan, His will, the fruit…will all flow out of that. We can take the pressure off of ourselves to know God’s will and instead put our energy and focus into knowing God. He will get us where we need to go as we abide in Him. Other words for abide: REMAIN, CONTINUE, STAY, REST, SIT, DWELL.

I love this quote by Andrew Murray: “Let Him be your one desire and the one occupation of your heart.”

The one occupation of your heart. You see, when our occupation becomes trying to figure out God’s will, His plan, or His next move…when we spend our emotional energy on trying to analyze His ways, predict His next steps, or to try and figure out our lives it leads only to an anxious heart. (raising my hand here because I’ve done it, I do it, and I get caught up in it…we all do!) It leads only to a heart that feels conflicted. The angst and the confliction soon wakes us up to realize what we really need is more of Him.

But when the occupation of our heart becomes knowing God He does the moving, He does the accomplishing, He gets us where we need to be, and He produces the fruit in us. We don’t have to be occupied with those details because as we press into knowing Him, He does the rest.

One of the greatest conflicts in my heart in my life’s journey was probably when I was dancing professionally as a ballerina and also wanted to be a mom. I couldn’t imagine how a dancer could possibly dance pregnant in pointe shoes or how she could possibly return to the stage after having a baby. I couldn’t imagine how she would work out the details of being fully mom and still tapping into her dancing heart. I remember so many times I wanted a detailed plan…a map…I wanted to see all the details worked out and laid out before I stepped into it. But here’s all I know…

All the conflict of the desires of our heart are about one thing…

making the driving desire of our life getting to know God more personally.

Our hearts long for this, our hearts need this, our hearts were designed for this.

And somehow when we make that the one occupation of our heart, the rest flows like a dance, step by step and day by day. We don’t have to figure out the details or worry about what it will look like or if we will take a wrong turn because in all the mystery of meeting with and knowing God, He gets us on the path He has for us. He produces fruit in our life. We don’t have to produce it or force it.

So today, whatever you have been trying to figure out, whether it’s a huge life decision that could alter the direction of your course, or whether it’s a little detail about your life that you have been trying to figure out, take this one treasure and cling to it…

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Your job…remain close to His heart. How do we do that? We spend time getting to know Him. We grab our Bible, a journal, a pen…and we know Him better by getting to know His Word. And we watch for Him. We listen for Him. And I struggle to put words to this divine relationship. But it’s this relationship where you will find rest from trying to figure out your life. Focus on Him, and He will get you to where He wants you to go. You don’t have to produce the fruit, you don’t have to make it happen…you get to focus on being loved by our Savior. You love Him back by drawing close to Him. And it’s this divine dance that becomes the heartbeat of your life. And He will use that heartbeat to do the rest…all the rest that you have been trying to figure out. You don’t have to figure it out, sweet one. Rest daughter, rest daughter.

I hope your heart feels a big scoop of relief, His love, and His grace today. He wants your heart to rest securely in His love and grace.

Thinking of each of you.