Have you ever been in a situation that was so bad, so hard or so confusing that you didn’t even know what to do? You just felt stuck. Paralyzed.

I’ve been there.

Maybe you were facing a mountain of debt or an overwhelmingly bad medical diagnosis or a spouse who was ready to walk out. Maybe you’re facing one of those now.

I wish I had an easy answer for your situation. I don’t.

To be honest, I think God actually likes it when we don’t know what to do. When we know what to do, or at least think we do, we tend to not seek His counsel. We tend to rely on our own ideas, our own wisdom, our own schemes. We do what seems right or best to us. And that’s usually not a very good idea.

The thing is, God’s ways are just so different than mine:

I don’t want to walk by faith. I want to see how things are going to work out.

I don’t want to suffer. I want to be comfortable.

I don’t want to wait. I want it now.

In 2 Chronicles 20, the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, learns that “a vast army” is coming to attack him. It says, “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord…”

He called together all the people of Judah to seek the Lord. He leads the people in prayer and concludes with these words:

“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

What “vast army” are you facing today? Is it a financial issue? A rebellious child? An addiction of some kind? Maybe it’s a negative emotion you just can’t shake…loneliness, anger, depression or worry.

How you exhausted your own strength and ideas? Out of options?

Maybe it’s time to say, “I don’t know what to do, Lord, but my eyes are upon You.”

It worked for Jehoshaphat. Check it out.

One last thought…

Don’t get discouraged if God doesn’t show up when or how you think He should. He rarely will, at least in my experience. You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration if you simply present your circumstances to Him, tell Him you don’t know what to do…and then let Him be God and do what’s best.