When You Can't See God's Plan

Have you ever felt lost, misguided, or unsure of which direction your life is supposed to take?  Have you ever found yourself wondering what God's plan for you might be right now?

Should you work full-time or part-time?  Should you work at all?  Should you take an office job, work in retail, pursue a completely new career, or go back to college?  Should you get married or remarried?  Should you buy a house, rent, or pack up your belongings and move across the country? 

How do you know which choice is right for you?  What is God's plan? And how do we know what is right and what is wrong when we are standing at a crossroads, trying to figure out which way to turn? 

We all experience the ups and downs of making choices.  Some of us turn to friends and family for advice.  Some of us pray and wait for guidance.  Others fly by the seat of their pants, take a leap of faith, or jump into something with both feet.  Then there are those of us who second-guess every decision, afraid to take a chance because we might make the wrong choice. 

Some people wait for the perfect sign, the unmistakable feeling, or that moment when everything finally falls into place.  Others follow the money, believing that financial security will lead them where they need to go. 

But what happens when you have prayed about it, talked it through, followed what you thought was a sign, or finally found an opportunity that seemed too good to pass up, only to watch everything fall apart?  What happens when the choice you thought was right leaves you worse off than you were before?

Then what?

When the Answers Don't Look Like Answers

For me, the answer comes back to faith.  It comes back to Jesus.  It comes back to believing that, even when I cannot see the bigger picture, things can still be okay.

I have to remind myself that sometimes what feels like a setback may be a steppingstone.  Sometimes those steps are much farther apart than I would like them to be.  Sometimes the distance between where I am and where I hope to be feels overwhelming.  But a steppingstone is still a steppingstone, even when I have to stretch a little farther to reach it.

I have even found myself praying for something, watching that prayer be answered, and then questioning whether it was God's mercy or whether the Devil was trying to play tricks on me.  I have had to tell myself over and over again to stop being anxious, to breathe, to trust Jesus, and to continue doing what I believe is right.

And if I discover along the way that I have made a mistake?  Then I need to do my best to correct it.

Making a mistake does not mean that everything is ruined.  Changing direction does not mean that you have failed.  Sometimes we learn things about ourselves, our circumstances, and our needs that we could not have known until we took that first step.

A prayer being answered does not always mean that everything will unfold exactly as we imagined.  Sometimes we have to keep praying, keep learning, and keep moving forward with faith.

The Prayer That Changed My Direction

There was a time when I needed a job more than I can adequately explain.  I needed an opportunity, a chance to prove myself, and a place where I could put my heart into something meaningful.

I asked God to help me find work where I could help people in need.  I wanted to remain faithful to Jesus and my beliefs.  I wanted to hold on to my morals, build relationships with people I enjoyed working with, and become part of a family and community where I belonged.

I asked God to help me find just one place that would trust me.  Just one employer who would have faith in me, recognize that I was a good and faithful person, and believe that I would work hard and give the job everything I had.

Just one opportunity. One open door.

But the doors kept closing.

I kept looking, kept hoping, and kept wondering what I was supposed to do next.  I knew what I wanted to accomplish, and I knew the kind of person I wanted to be.  Yet the opportunity I was praying for seemed to be nowhere in sight.

Then something began to change.

When the doors I had been searching for would not open, I started looking at the possibility that I might need to build something of my own.

And that is where Little Angels Mystery Scoops began to take shape.

I had asked God for a place where I could be faithful to Jesus, share my love for Him, help others, and build a community rooted in kindness, compassion, and faith. I wanted to create something that could grow into more than a business.  I wanted it to be a way to spread blessings, encourage others, and remind people that they are loved.

I had been praying for someone to trust me enough to give me a chance.

What if the opportunity was not going to come from someone else?

What if I was being given the chance to trust myself, take that step, and begin building what I had been praying for?

My new boss is me. My supervisor is me.  My colleagues are all of you who choose to be part of this journey.  And my greatest mentor, inspiration, and leader is Jesus Himself.

I may not know exactly where this path will lead.  I cannot promise that every day will be easy or that every decision I make will be the right one.  I know there will be challenges, moments of doubt, and days when I will need to remind myself why I started.

But I also know why this matters to me.

I wanted an opportunity to live my faith, help others, and build something with purpose.  Now I have the chance to work toward those things in a way that reflects what is in my heart.

Sometimes, the door we have been begging God to open is not the door we expected to walk through.

What If You Don't Know What Comes Next? 

Maybe you are standing at your own crossroads right now.  Maybe you are questioning a decision you made, wondering why something you prayed so hard for did not work out, or struggling to understand why life seems to be taking you in the opposite direction from where you wanted to go.

Maybe you are waiting for a sign.  Maybe you are afraid of making the wrong choice.  Maybe you have already taken the leap, and things have not turned out the way you hoped.

I cannot tell you what God's plan is for your life.  I cannot promise that every disappointment will eventually make sense or that every closed door will lead to something better.

But I can tell you that a difficult season does not erase your worth.  A mistake does not define your entire future.  And not knowing what comes next does not mean you have to face it without faith.

Pray. Seek wisdom. Listen to people you trust.  Take time to think about your choices.  Pay attention to what your decisions ask of you, what they may cost, and whether they allow you to remain true to your values.

And when you take a step that does not work out, give yourself permission to learn from it.  You can change direction.  You can begin again.  You can ask God for guidance all over again.

Faith does not mean that we will never feel afraid.  Sometimes faith means taking the next step while we are still afraid, trusting Jesus to walk beside us even when we cannot see very far ahead.

We may spend so much time asking God to show us the entire path that we forget we only need to take the next step.

Leave It in the Prayer Bowl

Here at Little Angels Mystery Scoops, I want our Prayer Bowl to be a place where we can set down some of the worries we carry.  A place where we can acknowledge that we do not have all the answers and that sometimes we need prayer, encouragement, and a little reminder that we are not alone.

You do not have to have your whole life figured out before you come to God.  You do not have to know whether your next decision will be perfect.  You do not have to pretend that you are strong every moment of every day.

Bring your questions.  Bring your fears. Bring your hopes, your disappointments, and the things you have been carrying quietly in your heart.

Leave them in the Prayer Bowl.

That does not mean we stop making decisions or taking responsibility for our lives.  It means we make room for prayer, seek wisdom, and remember that we do not have to carry every burden by ourselves.

I am still learning.  I am still growing.  I am still figuring out what this journey will look like.  But I am choosing to move forward in faith, one step at a time, and to trust Jesus even when the next step is not as clear as I would like it to be.

If you are struggling to find your direction today, I hope you will remember this:  You do not need to see the whole staircase to take the next step.

And if that step turns out to be the wrong one, pause, pray, learn, and find your footing again.  Your story is not over because one chapter did not turn out the way you expected.

Sometimes, a closed door is simply the place where we discover the courage to begin building something new.

With faith, love, and prayers,

Little Angels Mystery Scoops

Leave it in the Prayer Bowl. Let Jesus meet you where you are, and take the next step when you are ready.

Have you ever prayed for one thing and found yourself walking down a completely different path?  If you feel comfortable sharing, I would love to hear how faith has helped you through a season of uncertainty.  And if you need prayer, remember that you can always leave it in the Prayer Bowl.

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