Three Mistakes

Three Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking God’s Will
By Rick Warren
“The steps of a man are established by the LORD . . . When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24

You may be at what you think is a dead end in your life. “We’re never going to get out of debt!” “I’m never going to meet the right person." “My dream is never going to come true.” “How is it ever going to work out?”

Right now it may look dark, you may feel defeated, and God’s will may seem like a mystery to you. But one day you’re going to see in the light of eternity how it all fits together in God’s plan. Until then, here are three steps you can take as you seek God’s will that will help you trust in him more.

1. Don’t be fatalistic. The idea of fatalism—that everything that happens is God’s will—leads to self-pity. It causes us to blame God for everything bad in our lives rather than accepting responsibility when we caused the problem. And, fatalism leads to passivity. It makes us think we’re waiting on God to bring us a spouse or get us a job. God’s saying, “I gave you a brain! I gave you two feet! Get out and do something about it!”

2. Don’t be frustrated. If you try to figure out everything in your life, you’re going to be very frustrated. Sometimes you’re going to do what you think is God’s will, and it’s going to fail.

What do you do when there are no answers? You keep trusting God, knowing that he’s working on your character through all of your circumstances and that he has good plans for you.

3. Don’t be fearful. The root problem of fear is doubting God’s love. The Bible says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). We always get into trouble when we doubt God’s love, because when we don’t trust him, we don’t obey him.

Psalm 37:23-24 says, “The steps of a man are established by the LORD . . . When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand."

God’s will is an expression of his love. When you don’t understand what God is doing, have patience. God knows what’s best for you. You can’t see the end result yet, but he can. God’s path may be a path of pain, but all those delays, difficulties, and problems are building character in your life.