WHAT IF YOU’RE ASKING GOD THE WRONG QUESTION?
Most educators would admit that their minds are constantly racing. Students, lessons, activities, parents, colleagues—there is always something to process. If our thoughts are not school-related, thoughts about our families or the various circumstances of life often take their place. Our minds rarely seem to take a break.
Sometimes our racing minds focus on something deeper. We wonder if we are on the right track, if we are really following God’s direction, or if we have taken on tasks He never asked us to assume. Are we using our gifts the way He intended? Are we serving where He wants us to serve? Are we doing what He has called us to do? It is not uncommon for questions like these to consume our thinking.
While it is true that life can become so busy that we don't have time to stop and ponder these types of questions, there are also moments when we finally get quiet. Maybe it happens early in the morning with our Bible open. Maybe it is in the car before walking into school. Maybe it is sitting outside at the end of a long day, trying to quiet a mind that seems determined to keep racing. It is often in those quiet moments that questions surface.
I recently found myself asking some of these very questions. In fact, I was struggling a bit with the Lord over them. I love serving Him, and I want to be obedient. I want to steward well what He has entrusted to me. I want to use the gifts He has given me for His purposes. Yet somewhere along the way, that desire to serve had become a burden when I began to focus more on what I was doing than on what God was doing. The line between doing and being can become surprisingly blurry.
I was standing on my patio one day, trying to simply be still before the Lord. That is not always easy for me. I tend to overanalyze just about anything to the point of paralysis. As I stood there, I sensed something amazingly simple in my spirit. Sometimes, Jackie, it is less about what you are doing and more about what I am doing in you. In that moment, I realized that perhaps I had been asking the Lord the wrong question. I was asking, “What do You want me to do?” when all along He was inviting me to ask, “What do You want to do in me?”
I’m studying my way through the Bible Recap this year and my reading that day included Jesus’s words in Matthew 11. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I have read those words many times, but that morning on my patio, His words became particularly personal. Jesus didn't say, “Come to Me once you have figured everything out.” He didn't say, “Come to Me after you have determined whether you are on the right track.” He simply said, “Come to Me.”
There is a difference between being faithful to what God has called us to do and feeling as though everything depends on us getting it exactly right. We absolutely are called to be good stewards. We certainly are called to serve. We definitely are called to work faithfully and walk in obedience. However, we are not called to carry the responsibility of transforming ourselves, figure out every next step, or make God's plans happen through our own effort. That is God's work.
Paul understood this all too well. Based on what I’ve read about him, I suspect he was a “doing” kind of guy! Yet in 1 Corinthians 15:10, he acknowledged that whatever he had accomplished was solely because of God’s grace working in him. What a freeing truth! We can work hard without believing everything depends on us. We can serve faithfully without constantly questioning whether we are doing enough. We can use our gifts while remembering that the gifts themselves came from God. We can obey without demanding that God show us the entire path before we take the next step.
I believe this with all my heart, but I have to keep preaching this to myself. I wonder if you do, too? It’s so easy to fall back into “it’s all up to me” thinking. When we do, we find ourselves analyzing everything, searching for answers, trying to anticipate what God might want us to do next, and wondering if we are somehow missing something. Before long, we are carrying a burden Jesus never asked us to carry. Perhaps part of the problem is that we forget something critically important. God has not left us to navigate this life by ourselves. He has given us His Holy Spirit.
That thought has been on my mind lately as I’ve been reading 1 Corinthians 2 and thinking about what it really means to rely on the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives. The more I’ve reflected on what Jesus told us about the Holy Spirit, the more I realize how much I can rest in what He has already promised to do. The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of God’s truth. He brings conviction when we need it, guides us into truth, and gives us the power to live as witnesses for Christ. If we really stop and think about that, a question becomes obvious. Why am I working so hard to find all the answers when God has given me His Spirit to lead me? Jesus didn’t leave us to navigate our faith, our calling, or our circumstances by ourselves. He gave us His Spirit to teach us, guide us, and help us know how to walk forward (John 14:26; 16:8,13; Acts 1:8).
That doesn't mean we stop thinking. God gave us minds for a reason. We should think carefully, seek wisdom, study Scripture, pray, and make wise decisions. However, there comes a point when thinking becomes overthinking and seeking wisdom becomes striving for certainty. I know that place well. Perhaps the invitation is not to think less but to trust more.
As we seek God through His Word, pray with a humble heart, and remain willing to obey, we really can trust the Holy Spirit to provide the wisdom and discernment we need. We may not always understand what God is doing, and we may not always get everything right, but we don't have to carry the responsibility or burden of being our own guide. We can trust that the Holy Spirit is already at work in us.
I don’t know what this school year has looked like for you so far. Maybe you have already experienced a difficult start. Maybe your classroom isn't what you hoped it would be. Maybe you are already exhausted. Maybe you are wondering whether the effort you are exerting is accomplishing anything at all. Maybe things are going well, but you are already looking ahead, wondering what will come next. Whatever this season looks like for you, seek Him. Read His Word. Pray. Listen. Surrender. Then trust Him to do what only He can do.
Philippians 3:3-9 reminds us to not place our confidence in human effort but in Christ. This is where I am learning to rest. I pray you are learning to rest there, too. I feel certain when we allow Him to do His work in us, He will take care of what He wants to do through us. Where our strength ends, His ability remains. Where our understanding ends, His wisdom remains. Where our striving ends, His grace remains. Jesus is and always will be enough. Let’s not ask, “What do You want me to do?” Instead, replace that thought with the following question: “What do You want to do in me?”
Lord, help me learn to trust You. Help me lay down my need to figure everything out. Give me a willing heart and an open mind. Draw my thoughts back to You when they begin to race. Help me see my circumstances, my work, my students, my relationships, and my calling through the truth of Your Word. I surrender my plans, my questions, and my need for certainty to You. I trust that Your Holy Spirit will guide me, teach me, convict me, and lead me into truth. Do the work that needs to be done in me, Lord, and then use me however You desire. In Jesus' name, amen.
Then Jesus said,
”Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
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If this message encouraged you, you'll find even more practical ways to reflect Christ in your school throughout our book, Taking Jesus to School: The Fruit of the Spirit on Display. Together we explore how love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control can transform the way we teach, lead, and serve every day. Learn more here: https://www.victoriouseducator.com/taking-jesus-to-school
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