do what is clearly set before you

a few weeks ago at church, a missionary spoke about his life. he said to just daily do what is set clearly before you. this is how we can know we are doing God's will. this sounds so simple, but what if there are a million things set clearly before you? what if there are just two or three things, but all two or three seem worthy of your time and effort? how do you decipher what is important and what isn't?

i started this post on september 1, 2005. for some reason i got stuck and couldn't get past that first paragraph. i wasn't just stuck with this blog, but with my life too. earlier this year i started what i thought would be my career. it could have been very lucrative. it would have given me great success, lots of money, cars, a big house, etc. it would have also taken very valuable time away from my family. and the money, the cars, the house, will all amount to nothing when Jesus returns. but, it still made so much sense. or did it. on september 1, it wasn't all that clear.

on september 1 we had already made the decision to adopt, but where? public, private? from ohio, from another state? i even wondered if maybe we should adopt from another country. nothing seemed to be clear.

now, almost two months later. i get it. the questions are gone. doing what is clearly set before me no longer seems like a mystery.

God does set things clearly before us. sometimes, when faced with many "things", most of them seem gray, but 99% of the time, one will be very black and white. very clear. there can be literally a million things flying at you all at one time, but God can very easily show you which one He wants you to grab on to. which one He wants you to follow.

when you are in His will, you will know it. when you are daily surrendering, worshipping, praying, singing, dying to yourself, God sometimes walks right in your room and gives you an answer. He sits next to you in the car and holds your hand. He whispers, or even sometimes yells through His Word, or a song, or another person, or a part of nature. He sets out stepping stones, all lined up, and all you have to do is walk on them(thanks to my earthly father for this visualization).

i am walking. and He is revealing. He has made it all so clear.

if you are having trouble doing what is clearly set before you because it doesn't seem to be clear, let go of yourself. step out on that first stone. move forward. hold on to Him. where He will take you is beautiful.