Feeling Stuck? What to Do When You Don't Know What God Wants Next

Today I found myself sitting still.

Not resting, exactly. Not sad. Not even particularly overwhelmed. I just didn't know what to do next.

I looked around and realized I hadn't really accomplished anything. I wasn't working on a big project. I wasn't making money. I wasn't even trying to make money. I wasn't organizing, planning, creating or checking things off a list.

I was just…still.

And if you're anything like me, that kind of stillness can start messing with your head.

Because when you are someone who is used to doing, building, helping, creating and moving forward, a day without obvious progress can quickly start feeling like a day you've wasted.

So my mind naturally went to the bigger questions.

What am I supposed to be doing?

What should I be working on?

What is the plan?

What am I missing?

And maybe the biggest one:

God, what do You want me to do next?

Maybe You Don't Need the Whole Answer

I think sometimes we make hearing from God more complicated than it needs to be.

We want direction for the next year when perhaps God is giving us direction for the next hour.

We want to know how everything is going to work out. How the opportunity will come. How the money will come. How the ministry will grow. How the relationship will change. How the next season will unfold.

But maybe we don't need all of that information yet.

Maybe we just need to ask:

What do I already know to do?

James 4:17 says: "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them."

I've usually thought about that Scripture as a warning about doing what is right. But today I saw something else in it.

There are times when we already know the good thing to do.

It may not answer all of our questions. It may not solve the bigger problem. It may not produce immediate results.

But it is something we can do right now.

The Next Good Thing

For me, today, it was surprisingly simple.

I had thank-you notes I wanted to send to people who had loved and supported my family. I also wanted to send books to a few people because I thought something inside those pages might encourage them, (and I wanted to write a blog for today.)

That's it.

No marketing strategy.

No business plan.

No grand revelation.

Just gratitude and generosity.

And suddenly I had something to do.

That may sound insignificant, but I don't think it is.

Because maybe the question isn't always, "What can I do today that will move my life forward?"

Maybe sometimes the question is, "What good can I do with what God has already put in my hands?"

Those are very different questions.

One keeps the focus on the outcome.

The other keeps the focus on obedience.

Stuck and Still Are Not the Same Thing

I've been thinking about the difference between being stuck and being still.

We tend to call ourselves stuck whenever we aren't seeing movement.

Nothing is changing.

Nothing is growing.

Nothing is happening fast enough.

We aren't seeing the results we expected, so we assume something must be wrong.

But Scripture doesn't tell us that constant activity is evidence that we're walking with God.

In fact, Psalm 46:10 tells us: "Be still, and know that I am God."

Stillness isn't necessarily inactivity. Sometimes stillness is where we stop trying to manufacture an answer long enough to recognize what God has already placed in front of us.

Maybe you're not stuck. Maybe you simply don't have tomorrow's instructions yet. And you don't need them to be faithful with today.

Clarity May Come While You're Moving

I love a good plan. I love knowing where I'm going and what I'm supposed to do when I get there.

But life with God doesn't always work that way.

Abraham was told to go before he knew exactly where he was going.

The Israelites had to step into the Jordan before the water moved.

Peter had to put his foot outside the boat before he experienced what it meant to walk on water.

Sometimes obedience comes before understanding, and maybe clarity doesn't always come before movement.

Maybe sometimes clarity meets us while we're doing the next thing we already know is good.

That doesn't mean doing something just so we can say we're busy. It doesn't mean filling every quiet moment with activity because stillness makes us uncomfortable.

It means we stop demanding the entire map before we're willing to take one step.

What Is Already in Front of You?

Maybe today you don't know what you're supposed to do either.

Maybe you're waiting for an answer about your career, your finances, your ministry, your family, your purpose or your next season.

Maybe you've been praying and asking God for direction, but everything still feels quiet.

Instead of trying to figure out the entire future, ask yourself a smaller question:

What do I already know to do today?

Is there someone you need to encourage?

A conversation you need to have?

Something you've been putting off?

Someone you need to thank?

A gift sitting in your hands that could bless somebody else?

A prayer you need to pray?

A small act of obedience you already know is yours?

Do that.

Not because you're trying to manipulate God into showing you the next step.

Not because every action has to become an opportunity.

Do it because it is good.

Do it because it is yours to do.

And then trust God with what comes next.

You Do the Do

I'm learning again that I don't have to know how everything is going to happen.

I don't have to figure out where every opportunity will come from, how every need will be met or what every next chapter will look like.

That's not my part.

My part is to stay close enough to God to recognize what He's placed in front of me and faithful enough to do it.

Today that looked like writing this blog and a few thank-you notes — and books going in the mail.

Tomorrow may look completely different.

And that's okay.

I don't need tomorrow's assignment today.

I just need to be faithful with the one already in front of me.

God does the how.

You do the do.

Start with the main idea: What does God say about that? →

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