A friend mentioned to me that she has a hard time deciding what ideas to pursue. Sometimes she gets so excited about them that she’s afraid she could be “running ahead of God.” What if God doesn’t want her to pursue this idea, and she’s stepping outside His will? So she backs up and feels the need to make absolutely 100% sure it’s what God wants her to do. Many ideas are abandoned or back-burnered because she feels like she doesn’t know 100% that it’s what God wants her to do.
While I feel it is important to live your life according to God’s will, I have a different viewpoint than my friend. I don’t spend a lot of time requiring an answer from God before I pursue every idea. I say a quick prayer. If I feel good about it and it fits within my focus and overall plan, I run with it.
When I told my friend this, she said, “Don’t you worry you could be running ahead of God? What if you mess up His plans for you?”
This gave me a chance to analyze how I process things, and I began explaining some foundational beliefs I hold. I feel these beliefs are what enable me to accomplish so much.
1) Humans can’t frustrate God’s plans. As long as I’m pointed in God’s direction, loving Him and wanting to align my will with His, no mistake I make is so big that it could frustrate His plans for me. He can take the biggest lemon and transform it into lemonade. God can even take people who are completely out of His will and make things work together for their good if they’ll turn to Him.
2) You cannot “run ahead of God.” I believe we might have a tendency to run faster than we have human strength to handle. But running ahead of God? Not possible.
3) God’s timing makes itself known. Sometimes I’ll get the feeling that my idea is a good one, but the timing isn’t right. For me, that’s just a “knowing.” But if I don’t pick up on that, God lets His timing be known when all the pieces aren’t in place for me to move past a point. Many times He’s letting me know it’s time to move an obstacle out of the way, and I work on that. Other times, it’s just a matter of other people getting ready and entering my life. In these cases, I’ve learned not to try to force things. Trust His timing!
The Parable of the Sandbox
I sort of look at it this way. God has given me a big sandbox to play in. This sandbox includes all my talents, abilities, resources, friendships, and possibilities. He’s given me all the buckets, shovels, and castle-building gear I need. The boundaries of this sandbox are my life purpose. He hands me all this and says, “Have at it Marnie. Cut your creativity loose and see what you can build.”
Along the way, He might give pointers or suggestions, but He’s not micromanaging me. In fact, some things don’t matter to Him, and if I insisted on a 100% green-light before I proceeded, that might never come. A lot of the things I’ve created in my life wouldn’t exist.
If I get excited and create a castle in the upper right corner of my sandbox instead of the lower left, He’s not stressed. He’s given me my focus and the tools; and He wants me to be anxiously engaged in good causes and do many things of my own free will.
When I pray, “What about this idea for a product?” and still feel good and excited about it, I take that as a yes or an “okay by Me.” Full speed ahead. Waiting inordinate amounts of time to get a booming YES from heaven or constantly second-guessing whether you’re in God’s will is disabling. It keeps you from moving forward and producing good things.
More good ideas die in indecision than anywhere else.
I recommend laying the foundation first. Prayerfully discover what you’re here to do. (Discover the boundaries and focus of your sandbox.) Once you have that God-directive, start creating! As long as you’re in your sandbox, building things that are in alignment with your purpose, are doing things that make the world a better place, and serving others; you don’t need to constantly second guess yourself. Have fun and see what you can create!
All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all” – Brian Tracy
About Marnie Pehrson Kuhns
Marnie Pehrson Kuhns is a Certified SimplyAlign Practitioner™ who uses music and creativity to mentor you past barriers, fears and doubts to discover, create, align with, and deliver your soul’s song (the mission, message or purpose you are on this earth to live). Marnie is a best-selling author with 31 fiction and nonfiction titles. If you'd like Marnie and her husband Dave to work with you personally on Your Great Reinvention, get a FREE 20-minute strategy session with Marnie here.
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