What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do?

Day 177 of Photo Inspirations — What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do?
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. It wasn’t that my day was boring or didn’t have some great times with friends, but I just didn’t FEEL IT like I typically do.

So, what do I do when I don’t know what to do?  The first thing is I pray. That’s what I did yesterday. I prayed and said, “What do I do when I don’t know what to do?”  And it hit me, that prayer is what my post is supposed to be for today – responding to that question.

I recall a very specific day when we asked that question.  We had just received 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?   PRAY.  We prayed for God’s wisdom, His strength, His guidance, and most of all, His peace.  We needed peace that day like we had never needed it before.

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, God. We will not be afraid.”

Then, we sought Godly counsel from our children, and had a family meeting via phone.  We prayed for discernment of God’s best wishes for the course of action we should take. After prayer, each of us expressed our confidence in God as our Great Physician.  After hearing that each of us had peace about the Tulsa medical team of physicians that we had been directed to so far, and that it was apparent that we should not wait as we had been instructed, Ron said, “Okay, let’s do it! Call the doctor!” We did and within the next 48 hours, he had the surgery and it was successful.

Over the next 7 months, when the questions came again, we repeated the same steps:  Pray, Speak the 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.

The answer to this question and many more:  “Where can I turn when there’s no one else I can turn to?  Who can I talk to when no one wants to listen?  Who can I lean on when there’s no one to lean on?  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 todays and our tomorrows.