“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Phil 2:13 NIV)

“Am I still in God’s will?”

Have you ever asked yourself this question? You know what I’m talking about. You hear a word from God, you take steps out in faith based upon that Word, and then—NOTHING! Did you miss hearing God’s next command? Did you hear Him wrong in the first place? How can you know? You sincerely desire to do His will, but you don’t know what that is! You begin seeking God. You go to your Bible and you pray. Nothing. You go for a “power walk” with the Lord. You beg Him for direction. Nothing. No Word from the Lord.

I am in such a situation right now. God told me to write a book. I obeyed. I took the step into faith and started working on it. But now, two years and thousands of hours later, I am plagued with doubt. Being completely unknown, who will ever publish my work? And if it isn’t to be published, why bother? Have I been wasting my time? Did I hear right in the first place? Does He want me to continue? After all, it seems pretty futile putting all this time and money into something that will never get beyond my computer screen!

Yet as I implore the Lord for guidance, I get nothing.

As I began my walk today, my path led me around the local cemetery. The first thing I noticed was the cold breeze in my face. I was happy enough to turn the corner so that the wind was to my back! It was barely noticeable then, and as I began to warm up, I completely forgot about the wind. Until I turned the corner again, that is. Then it blew straight into my face! Again!

My philosophy being that if you ignore something long enough, maybe it will go away, I tried to dismiss the wind. God wouldn’t let it drop, however, and as I shivered along with the wind to my face, I slowly began to understand. As long as I remain in God’s will, the “wind” is to my back, and I may not even notice it. It’s the moment I step outside of His will that I begin to feel the “wind”. In other words, when I took that initial step out into obedience, I put my back to the wind and I become so used to it that eventually I stopped noticing it at all. I was in God’s will, and since I was already obeying, He didn’t need to tell me to obey.

How do I know if I’m still in God’s will? By keeping the wind to my back! By continuing on in silent obedience until I hear a new word from the Lord!

Lord, help me to always feel the shift in wind; but if I don’t feel any wind at all, help me to have the courage to continue doing that last thing you told me to do!

Lyn Chaffart