“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.” Romans 15:13 AMP

It is so easy to get lost in the expectations of the world around us. We tend to get drawn into fulfilling the designs those around us place on our shoulders, and we forget that God has very specific plans for our lives. We tend to seek answers from our friends and families, asking their opinion on every decision we are trying to make. The problem with that is God isn’t telling them what is best for YOU. He’s waiting for you to seek His input, and only HE can help you know what decision is for your best good. Only HE knows which path is the one you need to follow in order to fulfill His purposes.

Yes, we all want to feel successful and accomplished. We all want to reach our God-given potential. However, our view of what that looks like may be vastly different from God’s view. No, the path He intends for us won’t always be easy. We’ll have struggles and encounter road blocks, because the adversary does not want us to stay on the right path. He is going to make it hard and he will do whatever he can to pull us off course. That is why it’s so important to always seek guidance from the Lord. The path our Father has designed for us will be one that we feel compelled to follow. We will feel a passion for what we are trying to do, and though the journey will be difficult, we will know deep down that it will be worth it.

If you are starting down a new path in your life, and you’re feeling uncertain about whether or not you’re doing the right thing, make sure you stop right now and ask God to help you gain clarity. If you are starting down a path and you’ve got a check in your gut that is telling you something isn’t right…maybe you feel strongly that you are starting something you really don’t want to do, or that somehow feels wrong, whether in timing or in substance…this is the time to slow your roll and have a serious “Come to Jesus” talk with the Father. If you feel the answer you are getting is that the path you’ve started down is not the right one at this time in your life, you need to have the courage to turn around and walk away. God’s plan is so much better and will bring you so much more joy than any you could choose for yourself, which is because His plan is designed specifically for you, like the most perfectly tailored suit. If cost was not an issue, would you rather have an off the rack garment that “mostly” fit, or one that was made specifically to fit every twist and turn of your body, while making you look spectacular at the same time?

In the end, the only opinion that matters on how we’ve lived our life is Heavenly Father’s. I’m certain that His criteria won’t rest on how much money we made, how much education we had, what kind of car we drove, or where we got our clothes. He is going to be much more concerned with the content of our hearts, and the effort we made to live our lives according to His will.

“So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Then let us not criticize one another anymore, but rather determine this–not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block or a source of temptation in another believer’s way.” Romans 14:12-13 AMP