What to Do When We Don’t Know What to Do

I know so many of us have been in a quandary during these many months of the pandemic. “What do I do next?” “How can we make it?” “What can I do to make ends meet?” “Who can I go to for help?” Those questions were even more emphasized when my niece’s daughter broke the news to us that her mom had several strokes last week, with an emergency brain surgery yesterday. Bless her young heart – she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders for her mom. She said: “Tbh, I am very scared. I am scared for my mom’s well-being. I am scared about finances. I am scared about her future. I just feel like I don’t know what to do. So please pray, light candles, send good vibes, or whatever you do to cultivate positive energy, because she needs it, my brother needs it, and I need it."

I reposted her words, contacted our closest family members and, oh my, my beautiful social media friends and family went into immediate prayer-mode for her. I was so blessed to see the way-over-one-hundred messages telling me that they were praying. What a comfort that brought us – to know when the battle is raging, there are troops of prayer warriors who pick up their swords and shields for us.

I loved Roxie’s honesty about her fears AND her resolve. She knew what to do – call in prayer partners and prayer warriors – anyone who would stand in the gap with her. My memory kicked in when a similar message came to my own family years ago. We received the call from my husband’s doctor with the diagnosis from the tests: “You have Stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma that has metastasized to a tumor that is impinging on your spinal cord. It’s a life or death matter. You must have immediate surgery or you could be paralyzed.” The doctor was insistent on aggressively moving forward. So what do you do when you don’t know what to do? The answer is: PRAY. We prayed for God’s wisdom, His strength, His guidance, and most of all, His peace.

At the same time, we were making faith declarations: "Our God, our Healer. You are our Prince of Peace. By Your stripes, we are healed. We trust in you, Father God. We will not be afraid.” Each of us expressed our confidence in God as the Great Physician. It was apparent that we should move forward as was instructed by the doctor. The surgery was a success.

Over the next 7 months, when the questions came again, “What do we do?” we repeated the same steps: Pray, speak God’s Word, seek Godly counsel, pray some more. We found that we were closer to God during this time of crisis because we were acutely aware of our desperate need for Him. And quite frankly, that’s a great place to be. In Him, we found the answers to our questions and peace in our hearts because we sensed His presence with us.

So back to the question: “What do we do when we don’t know what to do?" or “Where can I turn when there's no one else I can turn to?” or “Who can I lean on when there’s no one to lean on?” or “Where can I hide until the storms pass over?” The answer to all of these questions is clear. It is found in ONE simple truth. We go to Him who is our solid rock, our refuge, our shelter, our friend. That’s WHO, WHAT, WHEN and WHERE to ALL questions we have for our today and our tomorrows.

The prayer warriors and praisers showed up for our Ruth just like King Jehosophat’s praisers came through for him. May our battle cry be like those who find their voices in complete surrender to He Who knows what to do when we say with King Jehosophat: “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you, Lord!” (2 Chronicles 20:12)

Help Us Lord! We Don't Know What to Do!

We've all been there. There -- where the answers don't come -- where the plans are uncertain. Where everyone is counting on us and we want to count the steps to the exit. Where there is a mob raising havoc in our lives -- the relentless, negativity mob we hear bashing our president, screaming ugly and hateful remarks against we pro-lifers, Bible-toters, God and country lovers. Did I at least cover one of the areas where you need to know what to do next instead of our usual responses:
~~ "I don't know what to do...so I'll eat another cookie."
~~ “I don’t know what to do…so I’m going to listen to the latest news commentator."
~~ “I don’t know what to do…so I’m going to try harder to please everyone.”
OR -- in big red, bold lettering......"I don't know what to do....but I'm going to find out what God's Word tells me what to do at times like this!"

Maybe we don't know what to do, but we go to our WHO -- Who does! We need to follow our Leader and leaders He used to show us the way. One such leader is King Jehoshaphat who spoke those same words when a vast army was approaching. But, in that scary moment he said this: “Lord, we don’t know what to do…but our eyes are upon You.” 2 Chronicles 20:12 At times like that -- it's not the WHAT but the WHO we go to.

Jehosaphat does something we won’t find in any military briefing. He puts the worshippers in front of the army and leads with the singers and the praisers. Their attention is on God -- our great Defender -- Mighty in battle -- our Rock -- our Shield -- our Fortress -- our Victor -- our great I AM -- our Hope -- our burden removing, yoke destroying Waymaker, Miracle Worker. That's Who He is and He is the answer to "I don't know what to do!" And King Jehoshaphat's armies watched the enemy forces fight and destroy each other. When the army of Judah overlooked the battlefield, they saw only dead bodies on the ground. No one had escaped.

What an amazing testimony to the power of faith, prayer, and praise, and that same power is available to us today. Praise is the voice of faith. So if you are unsure about what to do today, if the enemy is coming and the battle is raging and maybe you have even been wounded -- stand your ground and raise your voice. Speak the truth about Who God is and what He has done. About how big He is. How much He loves us. The ways He has always held the universe and our little part of it in His hands.

We cannot lose with Him. We cannot be overcome. As I type this I think of the stories of some of my champion friends who have plenty of battle scars but they are still raising invisible swords as they praise and worship God. To be a worshipper is to be a warrior. Jehoshaphat won his battle. We will too. We think we must know what to do. But in reality all we really need to know is Who. Because that is what makes the difference. That is what matters. When it looks like you’re surrounded, remind the enemy how you fight your battles – not with a sword or spear or fear or worry – remind him that you are surrounded by the Lord God of hosts by praising and worshiping Him.

What Do You Do When Life Presents an Upsetting Surprise?

I take my daily FB postings very seriously. Throughout the day I pay attention to people, places and things that could potentially be the inspiration for me. As I was driving home from Austin after two weeks away, I was thinking about my post for today. I was thinking that maybe I should write a finale to my “chasing gangster chickens” experiences or maybe it should be about the “need to recoup from the chicken coop”. The inspiration could have come from my drive home and the 45-minute traffic hold-up on I-35 North with the subject matter being about “patience”!

But, the inspiration came when a text message came in from a dear friend: “I am texting you because we need serious prayer warriors. We just got some very bad news about my brother. The doctor just told them he has a large mass in his colon and liver and it looks like there are other spots throughout his abdomen. We need a miracle touch from God and I know that I can count on you for some serious prayer. Thank you so much.”

I loved my friend’s resolve – she knew what to do – call in prayer partners and prayer warriors. I prayed and then I remembered a similar message that our family received years ago.

We had just received a telephone call with the diagnosis from my husband’s doctor: “You have Stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma that has metastasized to a tumor that is impinging on your spinal cord. It’s a life or death matter. You must have immediate surgery or you could be paralyzed.” Ron, my husband, being an in-charge guy, and not moved by anxiety or concern, declined the offer for the surgery. He wanted to research what he’d been told, get a second opinion, seek counsel and take his time. But the doctor was insistent on aggressively moving forward. So what do you do when you don’t know what to do? The answer is: PRAY. We prayed for God’s wisdom, His strength, His guidance, and most of all, His peace.

At the same time, we were speaking words from God's Word: "Our God, our Healer. He is our Prince of Peace. By His stripes, we are healed. We trust in you, Father God. We will not be afraid.” Then, we sought counsel from our children via a family phone-call meeting. We prayed for discernment for the course of action we should take. Then, each of us expressed our confidence in God as the Great Physician. It was apparent that we shouldn’t wait as we had been instructed by the doctor. Ron said, “Okay, let’s do it! Call the doctor!” We did and within the next 48 hours, he had a successful surgery.

Over the next 7 months, when the questions came again, we repeated the same steps: Pray, speak God’s Word, seek Godly counsel, pray some more. We found that we were closer to God during this time of crisis because we were acutely aware of our desperate need for Him. And quite frankly, that’s a great place to be. In Him, we found the answers to our questions and peace in our hearts because we sensed His presence with us.

The answer to this question and many more: “What do you do when life gives you an upsetting surprise?” or “Where can I turn when there's no one else I can turn to?” or “Who can I lean on when there’s no one to lean on?” or “Where can I hide until the storms pass over?”….. The answer to all of these questions is found in ONE SIMPLE TRUTH. We go to Him who is our solid rock, our refuge, our shelter, our friend. That’s WHO, WHAT, WHEN and WHERE to ALL questions we have for our today and our tomorrows. “God is our VERY PRESENT HELP in trouble and in time of need.” Psalm 46:1.