Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6
As I neared the end of my freshman year in college, I needed to decide who would be my roommate for the following year. I prayed and asked the Lord to direct my choice—whether it was someone I could be a witness to or another Christian who would encourage me spiritually, I wanted His will.
The deadline for choosing a roommate was quickly approaching, so I started looking more closely at my options. A friend who lived in an all-girls dorm told me there were probably a few people there who still did not have plans for the next year. But whenever I thought about going over to ask one of them, the Holy Spirit would check my heart, telling me to wait. With each passing day, the possibility of a random assignment by the housing office seemed more probable. I seriously considered asking one girl, but seconds before I went to talk to her, the Holy Spirit stopped me again. He spoke to my heart, “Didn’t you ask Me to make this decision?”
Days before the deadline, a girl I barely knew walked up to me in the cafeteria and asked, “Do you have a roommate for next year?” I was shocked—we were almost perfect strangers! When I told her I did not, she asked if I would want to live with her, so I said yes. Soon I learned that she was also a Christian. We ended up living together for three years, and she is still one of my best friends. Had I followed through on my own ideas for finding a roommate, I would have missed out on a huge blessing in my life—her friendship and spiritual encouragement. But because I trusted the Holy Spirit when He told me to wait, God directed me to the perfect path.
As we seek God’s will in our lives, we might wish He would just spell out what we are to do. Wouldn’t it be great if God would write specific instructions, in the sky or on a cloud, as to which choices were best for us? Well, there are no Bible promises about answers written in the sky, but God did promise that if we trust Him and live according to His instruction (in all our ways acknowledge Him), He will direct our lives (paths). We run into trouble when we think we know what the answer should be or try to figure it out on our own. To truly know what the Lord would have us to do, we must ask for His leading and be willing to wait for His answer. Sometimes we get so involved in praying about what we need, or in telling God how it should be resolved, that we do not take time to listen.
In Psalm 27:14 we are told, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” If we really want the will of God, then we must be willing to wait on Him. As we listen for and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, He will direct us in the best paths.