Deciding if God wants us to act or wait can sometimes make us feel like we are walking on a tightrope. We are afraid if we move one way or the other, we could end up falling out of God’s will for our lives. Is there a way to know when God wants us to step out in faith or to wait on His guidance?
The Bible provides principles about both concepts. At times, the Lord will call us to leave our comfort zones and trust Him, even when the path ahead is unclear. Other times, God will tell us to wait on His perfect timing. In either case, obedience is necessary.
The danger comes when we use a waiting period as an excuse for inaction or claim we are “stepping out in faith” when we are really jumping ahead of God.
The key to distinguishing when we wait on God or act is to stay connected to Him through prayer and regular reading of His Word. Then, we will have the wisdom of Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us know what God wants us to do.
Stepping Out in Faith
Evaluating these two responses to God’s leading will help us understand what is required of us in each instance, whether to act or wait. In Scripture, when God told people to do something, they would often respond by either obeying or disobeying Him.
Those who obeyed Him often had to step out in faith, not knowing what would happen. Although they did not understand everything God was asking them to do, they trusted in the Lord and obeyed His command.
When God told Abraham to leave his home, Abraham obeyed. However, leaving his home and everything he knew required strong faith since Abraham did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Likewise, when Mary was told she would bear the Messiah, she trusted God.
She could not have understood how a virgin would conceive and bear a son, but she said, “’I am the Lord’s servant,’ … ‘May your word to me be fulfilled’” (Luke 1:38). Neither Abraham nor Mary knew what events lay before them, but they chose to place their faith in the Lord since He is trustworthy.
Christians today are also called to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7, ESV). We may not receive assurance or knowledge about the future, but we can move forward trusting that God knows what He is doing.
He would not tell us to do something if He did not have a plan. Obeying God and faithfully following what He says will sometimes be scary and uncomfortable, but we can cling to our faith in Christ as we step into the unknown.
Although followers of Christ should faithfully obey God when He tells them to do something, Christians need to avoid getting ahead of the Lord. We risk stepping out of His will if we do not carefully consider God’s plan.
Sometimes a decision in life seems apparent, but we need to ensure that it is part of God’s will before we make the decision. Jumping ahead of God, even if we do so fearlessly, is still stepping outside of the bounds of His will.
Waiting on the Lord
At times we are told to leave our comfort zones, but other times God tells us to wait. Numerous verses in the Bible urge us to wait upon the Lord (Psalm 37:7; 40:1). As Psalm 27:14 reminds us, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
When we wait on Him, we will not be put to shame (Psalm 25:3). Instead, we are promised new spiritual strength from the Lord in our weariness from waiting (Isaiah 40:31).
Oftentimes, waiting is challenging, especially in the instantaneous world we live in today. We want God to act now, for Him to guide us now, and for our hardships to end now. However, God’s timing is always perfect.
He sometimes tells us to wait before He answers our prayer or moves us into our next stage of life. For instance, one of the promises in Scripture is that Christ will soon return (Revelation 22:20).
For almost 2,000 years, believers have been anticipating Jesus’ return, but we still eagerly wait (1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Our waiting is not in vain, however, since “our Lord’s patience means salvation” (2 Peter 3:15). There is a purpose in the waiting period.
Not only is God is working in the waiting period, but our faith is also being strengthened. As Elisabeth Elliot wrote in her book Be Still My Soul: Reflections on Living the Christian Life, “[s]ometimes the deepest level of trust has the appearance of doing nothing” (Revell).
Just as stepping out in faith requires that we trust God, so also does waiting on Him. When we wait patiently on the Lord, we are submitting to His timing and exercising faith that He will act.
However, we are mistaken if we think that waiting periods are an excuse for inactivity. Notice that Elisabeth Elliot said times of waiting merely have the “appearance of doing nothing” (emphasis mine).
The Lord continues to call us to obey Him in our everyday lives even while we wait for His answer to major decisions or life changes. In our seasons of waiting, we can continue to live faithfully to God’s Word and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Obeying God
Both stepping out in faith and waiting on God requires our obedience. When God calls us to go, we should go. However, if He instructs us to wait, we need to wait. The key to discerning when God wants us to act, or wait is to regularly read His Word and connect with Him through prayer.
Serving as a guiding light, like a lamp, the Bible provides us with instruction and guidance that we can apply to our everyday lives (Psalm 119:105). We need to immerse our hearts and minds in the truth of Scripture so that the Holy Spirit can lead us.
Paul’s example is a helpful one to consider in discerning when God desires us to act or wait. Being faithful to the Lord’s instruction to preach the gospel to all nations, Paul and his companions tried to enter the city of Mysia to tell the people of the good news of Jesus.
This was not within Jesus’ will, though, so He stopped them from gaining access to Mysia (Acts 16:7). Instead, Christ had other plans since the people in Macedonia desperately needed to hear the gospel (Acts 16:8-10).
In this instance, Paul obeyed Christ and did not try to jump ahead of the Lord’s plans. However, the apostle continued to step out in faith by spreading the gospel while waiting for God’s direction, which came in the form of a vision (Acts 16:9).
If he had disobeyed the Lord, Paul would not have gone to Macedonia at that specific time and the people would not have heard the message they so desperately required.
While Christians today probably will not receive a vision from the Lord guiding them in life, He will provide direction through His Word. Like Paul, we need to faithfully obey God in our everyday lives and not jump ahead of His will.
Continue to Walk in Faith
We do not always know or understand what God is doing in our lives, but that is why we walk in faith. As Hebrews 11:1 reads, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Oftentimes we do not know what lies ahead in life, but faith allows us to step out of our comfort zones or patiently wait on the Lord. In either case, we should cultivate an attitude of obedience to God’s will and timing. He is reliable and unchanging (Hebrews 13:8).
If we keep investing in our relationship with Him through Bible reading and prayer, we will have a strong “compass” of biblical truth to help us navigate the decisions and situations in life.
For further reading:
What Does it Mean to Wait on the Lord?
Does God Expect Us to Have Blind Faith?
How Much Agency Does God Want Us to Take in Life?
How Do We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight?
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