I didn't hear God speak, so I can do what I want, right?

"I didn't hear God speak, so that means I can do what I want... Right?"

This question and thought seems to keep coming up recently. So, I've been praying through it and seeking The Lord on how to answer this question. I've (along with a little encouragement from Emily), decided to make it the topic of this post.

A lot of people have asked both Emily and I how we heard the calling for missions and how we knew to move to Ukraine. Even more specifically, how did we hear God voice to move to Donetsk a few months ago. While this is a long answer and story (perhaps for a future blog post), it brings up the question about waiting on God.

So, if I don't hear God speak clearly on a matter, or if He doesn't tell me to go right or left, does this really mean I can just do what I want? If God's voice isn't clear, can I just make my best judgement call? If we didn't hear God's clear calling for us to move to Donetsk, or if God was completely silent, should we have gone anyways? No!

It seems that God is often silent concerning the will of our lives. But, by no means does that mean He isn't giving us direction, or an answer. Often, His will or His guidance is to wait.

"Man, I'm tired of waiting. I've done that long enough," is another common thought. However, God loves for us to wait on Him. In waiting, that is when we really have the opportunity to seek the presence of God.

Let's put things into perspective for a moment. First, if God was always giving us the complete map of our lives, telling us every step of the way to go right or left, never telling us to wait, would we ever truly sit down to seek His will? Life is busy enough as it is, I think that God is often calling us to wait, so we can get our focus back on Him. There is just something fruitful about waiting on The Lord.

Isaiah 40:31 says, "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Secondly, God calls us to be heavenly minded. Only when we are earthly minded are we concerned about waiting on Him. For example, Emily and I prayed constantly, almost every night, for 4+ years concerning God's will for us to move to Ukraine or not. Now, four years isn't that much time, but wow, when we were thinking in earthly ways, waiting on Him seemed like it would be forever, and that He may never answer us with a "yes" or "no." But that "wait" He told us, was just as clear of an answer as the "yes" was four years later. Now looking back, four years in the sight of God, in the midst of eternity, that's nothing. 15-20 years waiting on God is nothing in the heavenly perspective.

Finally, don't lose perspective on the here and now when waiting on Him. God has a will and a calling for us each and everyday. We need to make our days count for Him. Pursue Him. Serve Him in our waiting. 

If your waiting for His answer on whether or not to go on the mission field, if your waiting on Him for guidance in your job/school, if your waiting on Him in your singleness, whatever it may be you're waiting on, don't lose sight of what He has in store for you today!

"This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

So, to answer the question, "I didn't hear God speak, so that means I can do what I want... Right?" No, we should never follow after our own ideas or thoughts. The Bible says that the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). Don't follow after your own choices, even if they seem noble and good. Follow only after God in all your decisions and He will bless you abundantly and your life will be so content in Him!

It may be hard and grueling now, but keep waiting on Him. Seek Him. Seek His presence. He has a plan and timing for everything in your life.

I want to leave you with one thought. The Lord gave Emily and I a verse that helped confirm His will for us. I've shared it a lot before, but I think it speaks clearly on how God works in His children's lives, "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you" Joshua 1:3.

God cares about every single step of your life. Once we're walking in faith after Him, we see just how true this promise is!

Blessings,

Byron