Is It Just Me?: Learning to Trust God in the Middle of Hurts, Doubts, and FearsSample

When We Don’t Know What We “Should” Be Doing

We have all been there. No matter what you’re doing, you always feel like you are doing something wrong. There are a million contradicting statements of what you “should” be doing. You can’t help but to look to your left and your right and think, Should I be doing that?

But the beautiful thing about your life is that there are no shoulds. You have freedom and free will. You don’t have to be in school studying a major you hate. You don’t have to be married or have kids. There are no rules. And despite what others tell you, there is not one path everyone should follow.

Stop comparing your life to someone else’s. Stop exhausting yourself with everyone else’s shoulds.

You are not her. You are not your friend, your peer, or that girl you stalk on Instagram. 

You are you. And the main thing you “should” be doing in your life is falling in love with your Creator and pursuing who He created you to be.

Your purpose comes from your Creator. Your greatest calling is to live for your Creator and to appreciate who He created—a wonderful human being who has some flaws and great purpose.

The most beautiful thing about your life is that you have the opportunity to fall in love with your path. Your handcrafted path was given to you by your Creator.

Your path might not look like hers, but your path is exclusively yours. And God is leading you where you were meant to be all along.

To my fellow overthinkers, relax. Look at where your feet are planted. God brought you this far for a reason. You will be okay.

Wake up each day and become eager to give your life to the One who breathed life into you. That is all you should be doing. You don’t have to chase perfection. Simply chase Jesus, striving to talk to Him and living for Him.

Trust the One who hung the stars and painted the sea to place your life together. He knows what you should be doing. You need Him. You should love and trust Him. And that’s the only “should” you should be doing.

If you know who holds your past, present, and future, you will not be panicked about what others think your timeline should be. Live for Jesus in your today, and trust Him with your tomorrow. And please remember that your life is different from everyone else’s because you are different from everyone else. That is worthy of celebration!

Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Friend, my prayer is that you and I can trust God with His plan. If we lean on what makes sense to us and the expectations everyone else has for us, our paths will never be straight. But if we trust in the Lord and lean on His perfect understanding, we will experience joy in the unknown. If we obey His wishes and trust His will for our lives, He will make our paths straight. 

God’s timing is always perfect. Stop questioning. Trust Him. What a shame it would be if we missed out on our purpose because we were too busy worrying about what others thought we should be doing!

If you are trusting in God and leaning on His understanding, then you are exactly where you are supposed to be. 

Respond 

1. What is a “should” you often hear from others in your life? Does this “should” line up with what God says in His Word? Why or why not?

2. How can you trust that God’s timing is the right timing?

3. What is something you had planned that God didn’t? How did it work out? Ask God to help you be patient and trust in His perfect plan for your life.