Naomi Dawn Musch

Seeking God's will is sometimes a matter of simply doing the next thing. The essence of discovering His greater purposes lies in vigilant prayer while also learning to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings.

This weekend I attended an annual retreat for board members of Living Stones News http://www.livingstonesnews.com an award-winning Christian publication focused on sharing the testimonies of those whose lives have been impacted byJesus. Our goal at each year's retreat is to plan, celebrate, and pray over the focus and direction of LSN. One of the things we do on our first evening together is to gather around the campfire to discuss what God is doing in our lives individually. This year we all addressed the topic of His individual call, and where we each were on that path. As it turned out, we were each in various stages of trying to figure out His will. Even our prayer requests reflected that many of us desired direction and guidance from God, be it over family matters, our writing, our day jobs, or our personal goals.

The difficulty in discerning God's will is usually a matter of our natures struggling with His. We want to know it all. We want the entire plan laid out where we can see it. We want the promise of success. But God doesn't operate that way. He does have a plan, rest assured of that. But He desires our trust. He often only shows us a tiny bit of what lies ahead. "His Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path," (Psalm 119:105).  It's like He's telling us, Don't worry. Just follow the light I'm showing you. Sometimes His beams are on high (the path) and other times on low (just at our feet). It's when those beams are bent only a step ahead of our toes that we simply have to do what God is showing us to do today -- the next thing.

We writers (like everyone else, I suppose) obsess about God's will and calling sometimes. We want to feel Him guiding our stories and leading us on to publication. My struggle circled around whether or not I should concentrate on writing fiction or non-fiction since I have passions toward both. So I kept doing the next thing. Then one day He shone a beam on my path. I realized it didn't matter about the fiction or non-fiction. It mattered that I told stories about changed lives. That was His will, the genre didn't matter.

So whether God's headlights are lighting your path or merely your feet today, do the next thing. Pray often. Listen to His voice. Trust. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path," (Proverbs 3:5).

Write on!