Hebrews 10:36, ESV

“For you have a need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

In the past, I was the type of person who did not want to feel as though I couldn’t do something. I never liked people to think that I needed anyone else, and I always tried to project the image that I could do anything and handle any situation that presented itself. If something needed to be done I would step-up, learn what I need to know, and then become an expert on making it happen.

Many people would look at this mindset and approach as something very positive. This is the way a motivated person should behave. They should not wait for anyone else, but instead, take charge and march forward doing what needs done. We are in fact taught that we need to know what it is that we desire to do, and then set our mind to it and, if we try hard enough and stay focused, eventually we will make it happen. Is this the model that we see demonstrated to us in the Bible? Do we see stories in the Bible about people who take charge and take control? The answer is yes, we do. But when we see that happen the outcome is never a good one. Yet so many people still try to take this same path in life, but is there a better way?

The Bible tells us that we are to submit to the Lord in all that we do. We are to seek His plan and not our own. We are to wait upon Him to direct us rather than take charge and follow our own plan. This is truly the exact opposite as the world would lead us to behave. One of the hardest questions to wrestle with when you are feeling anxiety and feel the need to act is this, “Did God ask you to do what you are about to do?” No matter how much sense it may make, if God has told you not to do it, or He has led you in a different way, the outcome will never be what you truly need.

Today, if you are feeling anxiety in your life and you feel the need to do something, seek the Lord first. Do not try to take the situation into your own hands and solve it. Wait upon His answer and His guidance, and when He leads you, go forward doing what He has commanded you to do. We should not need His answer to make sense or be easy, our only concern should be to obey Him when He leads us.