Doubt, we all have it from time to time. It can stir the soul and cause you to look for something that isn’t there. Sometimes we are presented with situations that need our attention, but we are not sure of the kind of attention it needs. This can cause us to just act if we are not careful, and we will make the wrong decision, and suffer the consequences later.
So, what are we to do when we doubt whether or not we are to do something? Simple, stay where you are and wait. While waiting keep doing what you know God has called you to do. Stay focused on being obedient to all that you know is right. Stay aware of His presence, and seek to bring glory to Him in all you do. This is what following Christ is all about, it’s faith in action.
Waiting on God may be the hardest thing you ever do. The waiting gets harder because we are sometimes biased in the direction we should go. The sad part is that we don’t realize we are biased. Our hearts deceive us. We can’t hear the clear voice of God because God isn’t giving us the answer we want! Over and over we are told to wait in scripture, but if we are not careful we will look for signs that aren’t from God, and we will get ahead of Him.
Moses was such a man. Moses, as a young man, realized he was not an Egyptian, but a Hebrew. He believed God was going to use him as the Jew’s deliverer. Remember, his birth mother had been called to nurse him, and raise him for Pharaoh’s daughter. He had been taught the promises that God had made to His people. However, instead of waiting on God to put him in a position to lead, he took matters into his own hands. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and when he thought no one was looking, he killed him and buried him. Acts 7 gives us an account of this also, but in verse 25 Moses thinks his Hebrew brethren would understand how he was supposed to lead them, but they do not.
Exodus 2:11 “And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killed the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.”
Moses was 40 years old in Egypt and was ready to lead God’s people, but he did not wait for God’s timing. In fear, he runs, after being found out as a murderer of the Egyptian, and he spends the next 40 years on the backside of the desert. If he had stayed the course of doing what was right while waiting, he would not have lost 40 years of his life in the desert.
As a result of Moses not waiting on God, he had to flee for his life. He ended up in the desert for 40 years. God had a plan, but Moses was certain he knew what he must do, and he acted. He got ahead of God and he paid the price with 40 years of his life.
When we get ahead of God, it is our own pride that gets us there. We think we know, and reason in our own minds what is best, and that is the problem! When God doesn’t reveal what we want Him to, and when we want Him to, we take matters into our own hands. God in His time will always give the answer, and it will be clear if we are to act. It is in seeking Him that we find the answers.
Psalm 105:4 “Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.”
Stop struggling for an answer. Let your doubt be a guide that you are not ready for God’s revelation to you. Just seek Him, and obey what you already know he wants you to do in general. Some of those general things are praying, studying, witnessing, helping others, being faithful to church, and the work of the church. This is proof we trust Him when we keep on serving.
Have you ever thought that the reason you don’t seem to get an answer, is because you are wanting the answer to be yes, but God is trying to steer you in a different direction? Stay the course and stop pushing the issue. His timing is not right if you don’t have complete peace about the situation. Let God reveal it to you in His time.
If in doubt, don’t!
