Hearing God Spiritual Formation

What to Do When You Can't See the Next Step

There are times in life when we feel change is imminent but we don't exactly know what that change is. We sense we are coming to a completion of one season, but we lack clarity on what's next.

What do we do when we can't see the next step? Below I share (4) things that have helped me when I can't quite see the next step.

1. Be faithful to the last thing God clearly told you to do

Often we get stuck in discerning God's will because we are distracted by the next thing, the next assignment, the next step in our career/calling. We are too busy imagining our future to notice that God's eyes are fixed on our present; and He's looking for our faithfulness.

God knows how to advance you. He knows how to promote you. He knows how to get you out of your current thing and into the next assignment. Your job is simply to remain faithful to and joyful in the last clear thing He called you to do (Luke 16:10). Your faithfulness in your current assignment is what He uses to advance you to the next!

2. Practice thanksgiving

There is a direct link between the level of joy and peace you walk in and your practice of thanksgiving (Phil 4:6-7). Conversely, when gratitude is low, stress, anxiety and unbelief are high; and it's really difficult to hear a clear directional word from God when you're stuck in unbelief!

Hearing God for the next step requires faith. We can cultivate faith by building altars of thanksgiving to the Lord (continually celebrating His goodness and faithfulness in our lives). I advise a devotional practice of interactive gratitude. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind a time when you experienced God's goodness. Write out your thanks to God (be specific). Then ask Him to speak to you about what He might be saying to you through this. You'll find that celebrating His works and listening to His voice builds you up in faith.

3. Guard your integrity and purity

I have found that times of transition are also times of temptation. You have more time. You have less structure. You feel like you have less purpose. The evil one seeks to compromise you in this space. He wants to take you out; but if he can't take you out he will scheme so that you enter into your next season with a secret, a weakness, or a problem.

Resist.

Loose ends in our character have a way of kicking us in the booty when we're further down the road. Don't get your booty kicked!

4. Surrender again

Our opinions, biases and unchecked timetables about how our lives should go veil God's will to us.

Surrender removes the veil. Surrender aligns us with our true identity in Christ and positions us to discern God's will with clarity.

Get your eyes right.

Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

ABOUT ADAM

Adam is a unique prophetic evangelist who equips everyday Jesus-followers to live authentic, New Testament Christianity, discovering their highest joy in the Great Commandment and their unique assignment in the Great Commission.

Adam is author of New Identity: 30 Days of Prayer for Spiritual Transformation and producer of multiple e-courses and podcasts. He and his wife, Jenny, have four children and reside in Franklin, TN.