When you can’t see what’s next

There are challenges besides a pandemic that can keep you from seeing what comes next. Maybe it’s a personal health challenge that keeps you from feeling able to plan ahead. Maybe it’s a struggling relationship that makes you wonder what “next” will look like. Maybe it’s an exhaustion from all these months of living in the unknown.

When you can’t see what’s next, it’s hard to go on.

When you can’t see what’s next, it’s easy to stop.

When you can’t see what’s next, it’s easy to quit.

So, what do you do when you can’t see what’s next?

1. Keep doing the work you’ve been assigned. The task that you have in front of you – what you have already been doing – still needs doing. When you can’t see what comes next, sometimes that’s because it’s not time to move forward yet. What is it that you were doing before this challenge came along? Were you serving in a particular role or assigned a particular task? Keep doing it until you can see what comes next. Faithfulness in your current assignment will prepare you best for what comes next.
2. Ask God to guide you to what’s next when it’s time. While being faithful in your current assignment will prepare you for what is next, being watchful will make you ready when it’s time. I’m not advocating looking for a sign or throwing out a fleece (see Judges chapter 6 for how Gideon used that method to show a lack of faith). I’m saying that you should simply ask God to guide you. According to Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The opposite of faith is not doubt; it’s sight. If you can’t see what comes next, it’s time to exercise faith in the one who called you to follow him. He will lead you to the right place at the right time. Watch for his guidance with faith.
3. When it’s time, go. God may be forming your vision for what comes next already, but it’s just not the right time yet. The hopes and dreams in your mind and heart are waiting for the right time. As Chrystal Evans Hurst recently said, “What if the goals in your heart are part of what God is doing?” When it is the right moment, God will let you know what comes next. Being faithful where you are, being watchful for his guidance, and being available when it’s time will make you ready for whatever comes next.

Be faithful.

Be watchful.

Be available.