When The Time Comes, God Will Show You The Way

This is what I am learning: God’s provision is timely. Of clarity, of wisdom, of resources. Like the Israelites in the desert, we will receive our manna daily, when we need it. They could not store it up to have a Plan B. They had to trust that every day God would provide. And He did.

The hymn ‘Lead, Kindly Light’ has this beautiful line in it: “I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me.”

One step enough for me.

Honestly, this has become my mantra in the past year. When I’m faced with an overwhelming situation — exams, rent, degree results, a plethora of text messages to reply to — I remind myself that every journey is made of one step after another.

When I feel as though the world is falling in on top of me and I just have to get out, my escape is step by step.

Anxious thoughts are often a tangle of manageable things.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105 NIV.) God’s Word is a lamp unto our paths, not a floodlight to reveal all that’s ahead, not a set of bright LED lights to illuminate our entire exit route.

No, He gives us a lamp that will direct our footsteps and shows us, day by day, where we should go.

We do not know what the future holds, and we are not called to live as slaves to it. We are called to depend on God and trust that He will show us, one step at a time, where we should go.

Living in the future often does more harm than good.

It can lead to fruitless worries about things far beyond our control and reveals our refusal to empty all our burdens into God’s hands. C. S. Lewis wrote that the future should only concern us insofar as it is the present’s duty.

This isn’t a call to live without discernment and careful stewardship of our God-given gifts. It’s a reminder of what Jesus teaches us in Matthew’s Gospel: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NIV.)

Often, when the future is a hazy mess and every choice is shrouded in mist, the best thing to do is to keep going where you are at this moment. This is why it’s so important to be listening to God and trusting that He will reveal the right path and the right time. Sometimes the bravest thing to do is to wait. Sometimes all that’s needed is a bit of patience and an open mind to what opportunities God might bring before you. It’s often in the waiting — in the liminal space between chapters — that we grow the most.

So have no fear; instead, be bold.

By faith you’ll hear our Father say:

“Keep going my child, where you are now.

When the time comes, I will show you the way.”