Thursday, September 13, 2012

Seeking God’s Path For Your Life

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” -- John 4:11

I am overwhelmed. Totally. Completely. Just overwhelmed. My mind is scattered in a thousand places and I’m struggling to bring it all together and do what I’m supposed to do.

But am I supposed to do it? Isn’t Jesus supposed to step in with that living water and make it all easy? Or isn’t someone else supposed to step up and take over? Why me? And why now?

I am a person of ideas. Many of them I try to keep to myself because I simply can’t do it all. There aren’t enough hours in the day and there isn’t enough of me to go around. I’m sure some of you can relate to this.

That said, every now and then I get an idea that simply won’t go away. I know it’s from God because, let me repeat, it won’t go away. So forward I go with God’s idea and it blesses people. It does. Because it’s God’s idea. He saw a need, put it on my heart, and now an idea has become a blessing to many people. Just not a blessing to me.

I understand that doing good isn’t always supposed to be an immediate blessing to us. That’s not why we do good. We do good because God calls us to do good and because we’re supposed to love those around us. And I do. So following God means caring for others.

I tell myself this again and again. But the bitterness and unhappiness keeps rising up. Someone needs to do what I’m doing. Someone needs to help those who are hurting and in need. But does it have to be me? Surely someone who has fewer family obligations, doesn’t need to work, someone who isn’t already doing enough, should step up. Surely someone else could do the job better, with more kindness and compassion. Surely God didn’t mean for me to do this forever.

But no one is stepping up and I’m becoming more and more overwhelmed. How can one person coordinate the needs, and volunteers to meet those needs, all alone? I understand that I don’t have to do it alone. I’m supposed to do it in the Spirit, allowing God to carry me down this path.

My question then becomes this: What does that look like? How do I know if I’m even called to do this? I know God put the idea in my heart but did He really intend for me to do it all? Somehow I don’t think so. I’m just not sure where to go from here.

So I’m sitting down again today for some more of that living water. My hope and my prayer is that somehow, someway, in the Scriptures I read and the prayers that I offer up to God, that He’ll light my path so that I can truly see His will. I’m overwhelmed and I need Him more than I can say.