Now what?

Now what?

Unless you are living alone on a deserted island or have no feelings or are invincible, something in this life has “happened” to you.

You may have been fired, been told off, been in an accident, come down with a sickness, lived during a pandemic, had a fallout in one of your relationships or some other painful crisis, but whatever excruciating and stressful thing you have been facing the question you now are asking is: “Now what?” Let’s take a minute to examine what we can do next when our entire life seems to shift…

First, of all, whatever you are facing, remember that you are not alone. God is all around you, He is near you, listening to you and speaking His words of truth and wisdom to you. This is true whether you are close to God or far from Him. Whether you have been running from God or walking faithfully with Him day by day, He is the God who is present, the God who sees and hears and the One you and I always need to turn to.

Second, don’t do anything hastily. Far too often when things are decided quickly they are rushed and we are not as cognizant of the far-reaching consequences of today’s choices. Make sure to seek godly counsel, pray, wait before God and read the Bible. Decide that you will trust God to take care of you, trust God to give you wisdom and strength and trust God to lead you even if you don’t know where He is going or how He is going to get you there.

Third, please be very careful to take your own “vitals”. Just like a patient in a hospital needs to have heart rate and blood pressure and temperature, etc, closely monitored, so too, you and I need to gauge our attitude, emotions and thoughts and compare them to Jesus to determine whether they are appropriate or helpful. If any attitudes, emotions or thoughts are unChristlike, try and seek out why you are having them and then deliberately give them to God, asking Him to replace them with His responses. Furthermore when or if you determine the source of the unhealthy reactions, be careful to deal with those root causes as well so that you can truly find the deep healing and vitality that you need. 

Finally, I believe the Bible invites us to accept that however we got where we are, God is present to work things out for His glory and our good. No matter whose fault, no matter the choices that could have made things different, recognize that from this moment forward we can ask the Lord to change us, use us, fill us, work through us and otherwise redeem the mess. There is no situation that is hopeless and there is no person or place that is God-forsaken. Please accept this reality that God can save completely those who come to Him.

I pray that in the midst of your pain and your life-altering situation, that you will let God take charge and that you will find His perfect peace, amazing grace, unconditional love and remarkable redemption to make all things new!

Grace and peace

Mike J