Dear Younger Me,
Over the next few years, you’ll have to make some big decisions about your future – the kind of decisions where you want to be careful to make the right choice because you know the implications matter.
Strangely, as you get closer to God and become more concerned about seeking his will, you may find this gets harder.
As your desire to seek God grows, you will experience an increase in anxiety over whether the choice you are making is correct. I’ve experienced how that good desire can turn into a fear that paralyses you, leaving you unable to make any decision.
Let me share a few truths to encourage you:
If you are seeking God, he promises to guide you.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)
He will lead you on the right path. He is not trying to hide his will or to make you guess!
However, sometimes his guidance is not clear. You wish it would be written in the sky or that he would make it obvious, but it won’t always be as clear as you would like it to be.
God has given you common sense and he wants you to use it! In the absence of a clear sign from God, keep seeking him but also weigh up your options, listen to advice from others you trust, make a decision and step forward into it. Sometimes the actual choice you make doesn’t matter so much as the fact that you’re seeking God.
You will make mistakes at times, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. God won’t give up on you, and he can work even our mistakes into his plan.
You need to learn to trust God, but you also need to learn to trust yourself. If you’re not sure what else to do, use your common sense. If you go off course, God will guide you back.
These decisions can seem daunting, but they’re not always as big as we think.
Love,
Me
This post is part of “Dear Younger Me…” – a series for Write 31 Days in October 2019.
Each day I am basing my writing on the one-word prompt provided. Today the prompt is “sense.” You can find an introduction to the series and an index of all the posts here, and you can find out more about the challenge and check out other people’s series here
Life in the Spacious Place 
Everything has now gone crook
and the water’s getting high.
Everything I had’s been took,
and now I’m going to die.
But do not think that I despair
for these are bonza days
because I’m letting God repair
the former error of my ways.
I have to let Him be my guide
because, well, nothing else avails,
and lo, my Cobber’s by my side
through all of my travails.
Just trust Him, and He will come through
and you need not come unglued.
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I love how God has continued to guide you and work in you through this difficult season!
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Oh, Lesley, if only we really could have received letters from our older, wiser selves when we were younger. Your letters contain so much wisdom, which I would have needed when I was younger. Of course, I may not have listened; I was pretty headstrong when I was young. If only I would have used my God-given common sense, I could have saved myself a lot of heartaches!
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Thanks, Laurie! So true – when we are younger we may not have listened. It’s too easy to hold to our own perspective on things.
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I’ve actually been thinking a lot lately about the ways in which God guides us. I wish I had been a bit more relaxed about things when I was my “younger self.”
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Me too! I remember how worried I was that I would mess everything up if I made a wrong choice. I liked your post this week about finding “the dot”. I’m glad that’s not how it works!
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Lesley,
I love this: “Sometimes the actual choice you make doesn’t matter so much as the fact that you’re seeking God.” Amen. We think that if we choose the wrong path our lives will come unraveled forever. I know I’ve gone down some wrong paths, but if we continue to seek God, He can redeem any path we find ourselves on. Great letter!
Blessings,
Bev xx
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Thanks, Bev! Yes, it is reassuring to know that even when we make mistakes it doesn’t mess everything up but that God still has a plan and he can bring us back.
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Isn’t it amazing how much we learn through all the ups and downs of life?! Look at all the wisdom you are writing this month, bestowing on the you of yesterday!
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Thanks! It has been a fun and interesting exercise to do!
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Oh, I identify with that increase in anxiety as we grow older, Lesley. Thank you for all your good advice. I think I have the hardest time with trusting myself. I want that clear answer. But I’m afraid I’m like Gideon, not satisfied that the first sign was a clear answer and asking for another one to be sure. I need to believe God has given me discernment, too, not feeling like everyone else knows it better than I do. Thank you for this encouragement – “Sometimes the actual choice you make doesn’t matter so much as the fact that you’re seeking God.” And that “even if we do go off course, God will guide us back.” Yes! He is faithful! Love and blessings to you!
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Yes, I agree. I can find it easier to trust other people’s judgement than my own. If we think differently I tend to think that I am wrong. So important to remember to see God and believe, like you say, that he has given us discernment too. And I’m definitely grateful that his plan for us doesn’t depend on us getting everything right! Love and blessings to you too!
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I had plans, He had better ones. We should never allow fear and anxiety to interfere with them, note to self.
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Definitely! God’s plans are way better than ours!
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Very much so, thanks Lesley.
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I love these “Dear younger me” posts! So thankful for His promised guidance!
Thanks for linking up at InstaEncouragements!
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Thanks, Patsy!
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Seek and you shall find, knock and the door! Such good stuff
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Thanks, Tara!
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