That’s not your job

Within your heart you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there.
Proverbs 16:9 TPT

Hello, my name is Charlene and I am a planner, task-oriented, love feeling accomplished when I complete my to-do list kind of girl. Over the years, God has helped me move from tightly holding onto my calendar to slowly releasing it to Him and allowing Him to write in divine detours (what I once referred to as distractions and inconveniences) into my day.

https://ladyinwaiting222.com/2017/11/21/is-seeing-really-believing

I truly desire to transition completely out of nursing and into full time entrepreneurship doing life coaching, writing, blogging and creating, but have been completely bogged down with the HOW. When I read Proverbs 16:1-4 and verse 9 in the Passion translation, it really spoke to me. After reading verse 9, I heard God say,

Allow Me to decide on the HOW. That’s not your job. And know that it may look very different than what you have planned or expect it to look.

And isn’t that just it though? Somehow, we think we know more than the One who created us and this entire world, before we were even a thought in our parents’ mind? Therefore, I am still learning to roll these things on to Him, choosing to believe that He knows better. He has a better way of doing things and He knows what is best for me in every season, even when it doesn’t make sense. Isn’t that what truth faith is? While the world promotes this idea that “seeing is believing”, those in the Kingdom of God are called to the complete reverse:

…for we live by faith, not by what we see with our eyes.
2 Corinthians 5:7, TPT

In other words, for children of God, “believing is seeing”. I sometimes still struggle with making plans and setting goals because I recognize that at any given moment, the Lord can completely turn it in a completely different direction. Yet, it no longer frustrates me as much as it once did. #that’sgrowthyall! Not only am I learning how to embrace the process, but I am also learning how to trust the Lord more. I see His hand and although many times I think He is moving slower than a tortoise’s pace, it has really served as an opportunity to deepen my relationship with Him and shift my prayers. In the midst of many unknowns in this season, I am experiencing a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). There is so much freedom when I embrace the fact that it isn’t my job to decide on the HOW. I am choosing to trust what He has already said, instead of what I see. May you rest in the fact that not only does Your heavenly Father know your desires, He has removed the burden of you trying to figure out or decide on the HOW. Instead, He calls us to join Him in the journey and learn all He wants to teach us along the way.

“Father, You know the desires of my heart, desires I know You placed there for my future. I surrender my desires, my pens, my calendar, my timeline, my agenda, my logical steps and everything else to You today including every step moving forward and will trust You as You decide and choose the steps to get me there. There is always a great purpose in the route You choose, fully intending to build my character and form me to look more and more like Christ every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen!” (First 5 Devotional)