What's Next?

So many decisions...

sometimes its hard to figure out my next steps.  There are times that the variety of choices I have swirl around in my head.  Whenever I try to decide, the multitude of answers makes me want to give up.

It's seems great to have so many options but then it's really hard to choose, isn't it?

When is the last time you struggled with a deciding on your next step?  I bet it wasn't too long ago - probably yesterday.

 Why can't we get a burning bush like God gave Moses?  It was big.  It was dramatic. Moses couldn't miss it. Moses went to a mountain called Horeb, "There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange site - why the bush does not burn up."  Exodus 3: 2-3.

If we saw one of those, it would be so much easier to listen and follow, right?

In my life, God gives me what I would call burning plants.  They are a lot smaller than a bush and much less impressive but when I'm reading God's word, praying and listening, God will set fire to the next small plant - lighting the way to my next decision - and then my next.

Here's how it works - I'm regularly reading God's word and listening to how he wants me to apply it to my life.  I pray - expecting God to move and answer but keeping my mind open knowing that God can answer in a way that's much different from how I think he will answer.

I watch.

And he lines up my circumstances, one small burning plant at a time.

He will also add confirmations along the way.  Godly people around me will say something that reinforces the direction indicated by a recent burning plant.  The next chapter I read in the Bible talks about somebody who had to make a decision similar to the one I'm about to make.  And it's not unusual for my pastor on Sunday to say something that confirms my next decision.

Last week I had an important decision to make.  I just finished writing a book about my journey of surviving the death of my son who was a Phoenix Police Officer killed in the line of duty.  God has been writing this story in my life since before I was born.  I'm through the editing process (what a ride!) and last week I needed to make the final decision on the title because we were finalizing the cover.  I was praying about it and thought I had picked one until I opened my Kindle one morning and they were advertising a book with the same title.  I don't believe in coincidences, I call them "God-incidences".

Was this encouragement from God?  Or a  stop sign?

At first I felt encouraged but, as I thought about it, I wondered how many books had that same title?  So I got on Amazon and there are currently 30 books with that same title.  The one they were advertising is a best seller.  I talked to my editor who was concerned about my book getting lost in all of that.  I agreed and I have since changed the title to "Then I Looked Up: Losing a Child, Finding His Legacy of Love."  It has been published and many people have told me how much they love the title.

In this instance, I saw the burning plant but had to do some digging and talking to people with additional knowledge in order to make the right decision.  And I'm confident it's the right decision because God has already confirmed it.

When God knows I am watching and listening, he can work through all of these things to make my next step clear to me.

I have found that I don't need a big, dramatic burning bush if I'm paying attention.  My small burning plants work just fine.