A Short Prayer for Guidance
Heavenly Father, thank you for Your guidance.
Forgive me for getting ahead of Your plans,
and help me know when to stop and listen for Your direction.
Your ways are perfect, Lord. Thank you for offering gentle grace.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
~Kristine Brown
As humans, we often have this need to be in the know. Even when we trust in God’s plans for us, we want to understand what He has lined up for our futures. Limited by human capacity, we reason that knowing what God has in store for us will somehow make the difficult times all the more tolerable. It’s as if suffering is more manageable when we know something better is waiting on the other side, like a reward we get once we make it through each of life’s obstacles.
We can get so caught up in what’s coming next that we often fail to appreciate what’s right in front of us. The present essentially passes us by as we become consumed with the future.
Have you every missed the previews because you’re running late to the movies? Whether you intentionally missed them or not, the result is the same…you must wait until the picture comes to theaters before you learn the premise of the new film. Perhaps, when you go to see this mysterious movie, you end up not liking it and wish you hadn’t wasted time or money on watching it.
Life can sometimes feel like a movie with some scenes unfolding before us quicker than others. Thus, there is relevance to be gleamed from this analogy. We’re in a unique position to be a spectator when at the movies…but that’s just not the case in real life. We don’t have special effects and ominous music to guide us.
Sometimes were not even the ones who notice God’s signs taking place in our own lives! Have you ever been praying for direction and guidance, whether it’s about pursuing a new career, going back to school, or ending an unhealthy relationship?
There was a time when I was contemplating making a big change in my life. God was sending signs of encouragement to help me along the way. The only trouble was the fact that I saw a sign and closed my eyes to it. I missed it so God had to act fast to help remove me from circumstances that were less than ideal.
He sent another sign! Admittedly, I may not have liked the way God sent the next sign to me, but He did what needed to be done in order to remove me from a harmful situation. God had not given up on me!
I lost sight of God’s plans for me and overlooked the fact that He already knows every move I’m going to make. I’ll get where I’m going one way or another, just as God intends.
It’s often in hindsight that we’re able to see the signs that would’ve been so obvious in a movie. Fortunately for me, there isn’t a time limit on how often or when God offers us guidance in the form of signs. One thing is for sure, though, God prefers movies with happy endings!
Originally posted on November 9, 2018 @ 12:19 PM
