Confusion is one of the enemy’s best tactics. He pulls it out at his whim to send us off on wild-goose chases in the midst of our intentional focus to get integral projects done and especially to discern what door to knock on, open and then walk through.
Master of Confusion
Back in the 1980s, I did a Bible study on prayer. I can’t remember the name of it, but one concept has remained with me. When God is about to do something amazing in our lives, we will be offered a tremendous substitute.
This is where the evil one, the master of confusion, really gets me every time. He is so good at giving me the tremendous substitute that I seem to go for it every time. Is it God or Memorex? Is it God’s choice or a really, really great copy?
The confusion comes in at the point of stepping out in faith. I know that God wants me to follow Him: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). But what if there is no voice, just a wide open door? What if the door really appears to lead exactly to what I have been praying about but may be designed by the former angel of light to appear that way?
What Is Confusion?
The dictionary definition of confusion is a “lack of understanding; uncertainty; a situation of panic; a breakdown of order; a disorderly jumble; the state of being bewildered or unclear in one’s mind about something; bewilderment, perplexity, puzzlement.”
What is bewilderment? Oh, that definition is easy. The dictionary says it is to be confused. Circular thinking is so perplexing we have no idea what anything is any more. We just go ’round and ’round in the possibilities.
We weigh options to the point that no option seems to work. We’ve been praying. Then out of the blue, a door opens, and we just know that has to be God showing us the way. We walk through the door expecting the answer we’ve been praying for, and instead, another door slams in our face.
My first thought screams, “Beware: tremendous substitute!” It could be, but is it? Is it the evil one luring us into a trap, or is it God positioning us for a breakthrough?
Getting From Here to There
Whenever I walk through an open door in faith and something happens, I can’t beat myself up for making what I perceive is a wrong decision. I must have confidence in my Father God that He can get me there from here. As a very human individual, I evaluate everything through my five senses.
God, though, calls me to a deeper sense of knowing. This spiritual sense is a mystery we can never explain. He wants us to walk by faith, not by what we can see. Faith is not something we can evaluate by our five senses, our emotions or our intellect. Faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).
Suppose there are two doors available to me. Is one right and the other wrong? Or maybe both are right? Maybe both will lead me to God’s plan. Maybe there is no wrong way when I am walking in faith that God will lead me where I cannot see (2 Cor. 5:7).
What Is God’s Plan
Romans tells us “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
The master of confusion’s plan is that we not take any door open to us and that we never step out in faith, that we always stay in fear and circular thinking. His desire is that we stay stuck in the turmoil of having to make a decision.
Never acting, always staying mired in indecision, is not God’s plan. We have to be moving to be directed. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left” (Is. 30:21).
What if I make life-changing choices based on an open door, and the door seems to slam shut in my face? Then with all my heart, I truly know God will open a window. I also know I don’t see like God sees.
That open door may have just been what I needed to make that life-changing choice He’s been trying to get me to make forever. I just needed a more earthly encouragement to take that leap of faith. Once I jumped, the door seemed to shut because I no longer needed that incentive.
God Has a Purpose
Now where I am I? I’m right where God wants me to be—100 percent dependent on Him. I’m walking by my spiritual insight called faith, not by my physical sight. I’m walking in a manner consistent with my confident belief that God will never let me down (2 Cor. 5:7).
One thing I know about God, He has plans for my me, “plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).
Peace is just the opposite of confusion. We have an enemy who knows this well. He will keep us in discord and total confusion until the open doors close.
God keeps calling us to the open door while we try to evaluate it by our earthly wisdom. God’s opens doors can never be evaluated by our head. They must be evaluated by our heart. Are we willing to trust God or not?
Whatever door is open, pray and then muster up the courage to walk through, holding tight to Jesus’ hands. In His hands is where we must leave the outcome of our faith walk. Then without waiting, we must walk through the next open door.
God’s Will
It’s not always a straight shot to God’s will. Sometimes He needs to take us through the fire so we can be purified before we step into the destiny assignment He has waiting there.
When we are desiring above all else to follow God’s will, we can’t go wrong. When we step out in faith, we will always fall right into the arms of grace, whether it looks like it or not.
Despite what we feel or think, we must always keep going. We must always walk right out of confusion and into His peace. No matter what, all things will work together. That’s His promise to us. {eoa}
Teresa Shields Parker is a wife, mother, Christian weight loss coach, speaker and author of Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor, Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off with God’s Help and Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation. Get a free chapter of all her books, plus many other free resources, on her blog at TeresaShieldsParker.com. Connect with her there or on her Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest or In
This article originally appeared at teresashieldsparker.com.
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