I’ve been living in a season, as so many of us do, of feeling clueless about the direction of my calling. Am I getting it right? Am I making the right decisions? We can look down the road at our lives and wonder how will we ever get to point B (if we even know what point B is). And in the middle of this season, I heard a song I had heard many times before, Shadow Step by Hillsong. Here is the chorus:

“Light up the way of Your heart
Move me like You do the mountains
Move me like You do the wind
And I’ll chase Your voice through the dark
Fix my eyes on the unexpected
In the wonder of Your shadow step
So take another step”

Tears fell from my eyes as I realized that this was exactly how I was feeling: in the dark, wishing God would just move me, help me, guide me. In that moment, I understood that these words, as a prayer, are the key to walking out our lives and callings with purpose, conviction, and trust. We can do so much planning and preparing on our own only to realize we’ve been traveling down the wrong road the whole time. But, if we pray to align ourselves with the Father’s heart, He will make our paths straight. He is so sovereign that He can put us exactly where He needs us.

I love so much how the song says “move me like you do the mountains,” because so often, we can get caught up in our own heads thinking we must’ve missed it. We must’ve made one wrong decision that completely threw us off of God’s plan for our lives. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible says He works out all things for the good. So while we may take a misstep, He has a sovereign way of getting us back to where He intended us to be as we seek Him. You are never too lost.

As we fix our eyes on the unexpected, on the hopeful, we begin to believe that God has good things in store. And, while we feel like we are in the dark during seasons like this, it’s exactly there that we grow in deep intimacy with God and learn to hear His voice more clearly. As we listen in, we follow, and we simply just take the next step. So often, we believe our destiny or calling will hit us like a brick. But I believe it’s an unfolding of everyday slow obedience to God and a following of the Holy Spirit. One day at a time, one step at a time, we unveil our purpose and we slowly emerge from the darkness.

Seasons of confusion, frustration, and anxiety can easily lead to a distrust in God if we let our hearts go there. I’ve definitely been guilty of it. That’s why the secret place is such a necessary holy ground. When we take the time and get on our knees before the Father, we can tell Him that we feel like we are in the dark. We can press in, knowing that He hears us, He cares about us, that He has good plans for us. It can become such a holy process when we don’t rush for the fast answer. The process of following God is always one of perseverance and trust. We have to trust that He is good and that He rewards those who seek Him.

This would be my prayer for you and me–that we would press in and trust Him.

May we not rush to the answer, but rather, daily take a step of faith in the direction that He calls us. He will not fail you. He will not lead you astray. He will give you His best. You can trust the process of following Him, and one day you will look up from the dark and see that you’ve arrived. It may be the destination you had planned for all along, or it may be one better than you had ever dreamed of. That’s one of my favorite things about God, He knows us better than we know ourselves.

How can you trust God today and take your next step of faith?