When You Don’t Know What To Do…
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
(Psalm 121: 1-2)
Have you ever faced a situation that felt like an unmoveable mountain? A time when the way ahead looked so uncertain and so difficult that you literally didn’t know what to do?
If so, you’re in good company here, my friend…
On not knowing
Last week we concluded our last round of fertility treatment with clomid unsuccessfully. We were so hopeful that it would work for us, and give us one last shot at pregnancy, but it didn’t...
So now we await another review with our consultant in a few weeks time to discuss our options & possible next steps. But I honestly don’t know what that next step for us will be. In fact, I have never felt less clear about what we should do.
Do we opt for more invasive fertility treatments, knowing that the odds of success aren’t great for couples over 40 with a history of loss? Do we spend all that time waiting and invest all that money into IUI or IVF, knowing that we could still come away empty handed, or even end up pregnant and then quickly miscarry again?
Or should we just come off the fertility pathway altogether and start exploring alternative ways of extending our family instead such as fostering or adoption? Maybe, but that’s not a quick or easy road to walk along either, and it also doesn’t come with any easy guarantees.
So here we are. Facing all of these decisions, with absolutely no clue what to do.
What’s the next move?
These days we are all pretty adept at planning and knowing our every next ‘right’ move. And even if there is something that we don’t know, then the answer is usually just a quick Google search away…
But what happens when it doesn’t?
One of the most reassuring things I find about reading the Bible is that lots of it’s characters also faced big questions and crises in their lives too. There’s really no shortage of stories about people who came to the end of their own knowledge, strength and ability, and found themselves crying out to God for help.
In 2 Chronicles 20, the story of King Jehoshaphat, leader of the ancient kingdom Judah, is just such an example. He too finds himself in a similar kind of hard spot, with no clue what to do next.
After receiving word that three armies had conspired together to attack his people, they too were facing insurmountable odds.
But in the midst of great adversity and pressure, Jehoshaphat simply humbles himself and prays these 12 transformational words:
“We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
(2 Chronicles 20:12)
But what actually impresses me most in this story is his heart posture. Despite being Judah’s leader and knowing that all his people were looking up to him for direction and answers, he is quick to humble himself and declare that he doesn’t know what to do.
For me, prayer is so often my last resort, once I’ve already asked google, consulted some experts, and sought the opinions of countless family members and friends! But not so with Jehoshaphat. He is so aware of his need for God to direct him.
So this past week or so, even as I feel at a total loss about what to do, I have been adopting his prayer as my own. “Lord, I have no idea what to do next… but my eyes are on you. Would you please guide me and show me what I need to do?”
So how about you? Are these the 12 little words that you need to turn into your own declaration about something you are struggling with right now too?
Because who knows, but maybe just as Jehoshaphat & the people of Judah discovered, it will turn out to be the exact prayer and position of heart that unlocks God’s rescue plan for me and for you too.