I’m so confused…

At Element we did a series at the beginning of April called “I’m so confused,…what to do when you don’t know what to do.” I found this topic to be fasinating since just about every person known to man needs a how to when it comes to this topic…especially now in the midst of the events in Boston.

Lately, I have experienced a few times where I just was really so confused…and didn’t really know what to do. A few posts ago I talked about my own health scare. I have been battling fear with that whole thing presently with a prayer, my daily dose of sunscreen and a ball cap on sunny days. It was easier in the winter months since it was so cloudy; I didn’t have to think about it. Also, all of my best friends have been confused and working with God on different things. Usually just one of us is struggling with something,…not all at once. One had a “creeper” of sorts at her apartments that was acting out, and she had to move apartments abruptly…talk about scary confusing and not knowing what to do or how to handle things! Whew! In addition, another one literally has a life altering illness where she had to change just about everything. Check out her testimony that she graciously did for me for this series…

Maybe your thing that confuses you isn’t as life altering as Jana’s but I bet it sure does feel weighty. I know my situations aren’t like Jana’s but being close friends with her, it has affected me too. It’s like being in a car accident and you aren’t driving and able to control things but instead in the back seat. Whether it is a health scare, a relationship issue, a theological issue, a natural disaster, a shooting (or bombing for that matter), a sudden divorce, a problem at work or school that you just can’t figure out, what you really want to do with your life verses what you find yourself doing, the expectations people have for you verses the ones you have and God has, a repetitive sin you can’t seem to over come…we all have things that just plain confuse us, and we don’t know exactly what to do.

I started thinking…what exactly DO I really do when I don’t know what to do??

Well…

I will be the 1st person to admit that I have a tendency to want to first call my “board” of about 5 peeps to talk it out. Jana from the video would be one of them. Granted they usually can grant insight, tell me what they know to be true about God and what they know is not of God, and repeat back to me what they hear me saying. I am so ever thankful for those 5 people. THEN I usually end up on my face or in my car singing some worship music, praying, crying (the ugly cry), and giving God a piece of my mind. I am so thankful for those people in my life…however, I probably should start things out by going to God first. I gave a talk on this a couple Sunday’s ago, and the steps on what to do when you don’t know what to do that I gathered were helpful to me. I bet they would help you as well! So, below I have listed them.

What to do when you don’t know what to do:

1. Seek God

2. Seek Godly counsel

– Matthew 7:7- ask-given, seek-find, knock-open

3. Level with the problem.

-Luke 19:1-5- Zacheaus leveled with his issue of being short and got on eye level with Jesus. He took initiative and didn’t just trust what others said, but he wanted to see Jesus for himself.

4. Play out the options

-What if = I fear

-Any situation that doesn’t end with if _______ then GOD is not a winning situation.

-John 10:10- steal, kill destroy vs. having life (freedom)

5. Trust God to be who He says He is

6. Be Obediant

7. Repeat it (Alot of times I can go through those steps in a whole hour if I am super confused…so start over)