More than once in my life I have wondered which direction I was travelling. I thought I had everything figured out, only to discover that God had other plans.

What does that mean? Was I on the wrong path before? Did I make a mistake? Although those are possibilities, they are not the most likely.

As God prepares us for what He has for us to do, we may feel unworthy, unused, discouraged or that we’re wasting time. We are eager to get moving, but God will do what it takes to make us ready no matter how ready we think we are. He doesn’t ask us to do anything of which we are not capable, or for which He has not made us ready.

In the midst of the battle, it’s often impossible to see the big picture. The way we’re made, we still want to—but trusting God to know what He’s doing is even more important. It’s so important that He will take weeks and years to develop our character, our spiritual life, and our dependence on Him.

Twenty five years ago, Gwen and I thought our lives were over—not our marriage, our lives. We were in real danger—never  in my life have I experienced such a threat to our wellbeing, and I feared it would overtake us. We talked and prayed, and tried to make good decisions, but the outlook still seemed bleak.

Instead of giving us the answers and making clear what He was doing, there was silence. Would it be so difficult to tell us why He was allowing pain and danger to come into our lives, who it would affect and what benefit it would produce, or why sacrifice was necessary in the first place? The fact is that He has no obligation to explain Himself to us at any time. We don’t need to know—we just need to be obedient.

We had no choice but to lean completely on God—and that was hard for me because I wanted to fix it somehow. We hated going through that period of time. It was stressful, frightening, and dangerous. But God required us to walk that path.

Looking back, I can see why—but I couldn’t then. In fact, I don’t think I was even looking because I was in “survival” mode. But it prepared us for things that were yet to come—things that were important. I can say without hesitation that it was worth it all.

Many things in life are difficult and painful. But we must concentrate on doing what God has called us to do instead of doing what we think His mission is for us. They may not be the same.

Question: How do you know you’re in the center of God’s plan? Please leave a comment below and offer some insight to others. It may be very helpful.