What’s My Next Step?

Written by Hannah Juanta, Australia

It was a few years ago now that I first discovered the works of Emily P. Freeman, a Wall Street Journal bestselling author based out of the US. Her podcast, social media presence and the book that I want to share with you came into my life at a very important time.

I had finished working for my local church family, a job I’d held for six years, and I was now caring for two small humans under the age of five at home. I was in a place of transition from what I had known for so long, into something completely undefinable. To say that I was anxious would be an understatement. Now, four years on from first reading Emily’s penned words, I am back to devour her book for a second time as I find myself standing on a different kind of precipice.

The book is The Next Right Thing - A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions. In it, Emily weaves biblical truth and practical advice together to help us shape our decision-making processes and realign our movements with God’s plan for our lives. Needless to say, the book is a breath of fresh air when it feels like that precipice I stand on is only offering a glimpse of foggy nothingness beyond. Can you relate?

You might find yourself feeling like you’re treading water. You aren’t in the places that you’ve left behind, but you aren’t yet in the places that you thought God was calling you to. There’s a constant back and forth between what was and what is not yet, but all the while you feel like you aren’t really anywhere.

Reading Emily’s book a second time, I have held fast to Psalm 46:10-11, which reads: “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” These words have set the scene for me as I learn from someone who has gone before me in the waters of change - I am reminded to seek stillness, and stop striving in order to remember Who it is that has brought me this far and Who it is that remains with me as I walk on towards my Next Right Thing.

That being said, let me share with you three of my favourite lessons from Emily’s book and hopefully, you’ll find encouragement as you quiet the chaos and seek to simply put one foot in front of the other, just as I’m trying to do.

1. Don’t Confuse the Moment for the Whole Story

These eight words from Chapter 3 are helping me change how I think about my day-to-day life. The chapter of my life that I find God has placed me in now is simply just that – a chapter. To mistake my current situation or circumstances as all there is doesn’t give God the credit for being an Author of beautifully articulated stories. He is still at work, and this current ‘moment’ is just a small part of my greater story.

This is a huge relief when you think about it, especially if you are suffering from decision fatigue or are in a state of perpetual waiting. “Remember, today is a plot point”, Emily says – today is not the final destination, nor is it definitive of the rest of your journey, it is just ... today. This is a helpful idea to draw on when I am constantly trying to catch up with myself. It’s a conscious, daily choice to decide to be present where my feet are in the here and now, rather than in the ‘maybes’ and ‘what ifs’ of tomorrow. Tomorrow is still being written, and that responsibility is not on me.

As soon as we find ourselves in the moment, whether enjoyable or challenging, we can remind ourselves that it will pass because it’s a portion of a much greater story.

2. Create a “Life Energy” List

Emily admits that she isn’t a huge fan of the name she’s given this important list and that one day, she’ll think up a new one – but for now, she tells us in Chapter 9, “The most important list to make is one that helps us to intentionally discern our yes and our no before the time comes to make the decision in the first place.” This is where the simple Life Energy List comes in.

This list is divided into two questions: What is life draining, and what is life giving? Another way to ask these questions, Emily says, is to consider: “Did this activity draw me closer to God, or did it push me further from Him?” Pause on that for just a moment. Have you ever considered your daily, weekly or monthly activities in light of a question so profound? I hadn’t before, which is why I’ve clung to this list.

Emily explains that you take any area of your life and ask these two questions of it. For example, perhaps you want to focus on the ministries you’re involved in and you want to evaluate that involvement over the last six months. You reflect on your time commitment to those areas, the people that you serve alongside, and how these ministries had an impact on the other areas of your life. You consider how well you are engaged in these spaces and with these specific people, and then hold that season of time in your mind and measure it against the “life draining or life giving” questions. Have these ministry spaces drawn me closer to God, or have they somehow changed that?

Of course, obediently serving God in what He's called us to–whether that's a specific ministry or something else–won't always feel "life giving" in the moment. And this is where we need to ask God for discernment: "Is this what you're calling me to do, God, even when it feels difficult in some seasons?" If His answer is "yes", then we can trust that He'll equip us with the strength and perseverance to keep going, knowing that we can find our rest in Him. You can take stock of the big and the small things you do and how you spend your time by asking yourself these two questions.

3. Remain in God’s Hand

As Emily writes in Chapter 24, “Our choices shape our lives, and they shape us. But we remain in God’s hand no matter what.” This draws me right back to those verses in Psalm 46; “I am God”, “The Lord Almighty is with us”, He is “our fortress”. God’s promise of presence is written throughout Scripture. In any book of the Bible, you will see His being woven with the stories of His people, and our stories are no different. He declares who He is, then He tells us where He is and also what He is to us. We are safe, secure and guided in His companionship.

In terms of making decisions, there might be some moments in life when we find that we have made a choice that we simply wish we hadn’t. Even after all that prayer, all those lists written out, all those journal entries and all that godly counsel, we find we have still ended up in a place we weren’t aiming for. We really shouldn’t have gone on a date with that guy. We really shouldn’t have moved across the country. We really shouldn’t have enrolled in that class.

Sometimes we'll find ourselves in these spaces of darkness, where loneliness and anxiety rear their ugly heads and the outcome of these choices directly affects us, “but we remain in God’s hand no matter what”. Remember His promise of presence? It never left; His promise never expired.

Emily ends her final prayer with some stunning words that really should be a poster somewhere. She writes to God, “You never promise clarity. But You always give a hopeful vision. And You always promise presence.”

So do not be afraid to trust your unknown steps to an all-knowing God. There isn’t any decision you could make that would draw you further away from His love for you (take a look at Romans 8:38-39), and this is the ultimate thread throughout Emily’s book – God’s faithful presence in our lives at all times.

I trust that as you read my words, you too will be encouraged to seek out the wisdom of those who have gone before you in the big moments of life. I pray that you’ll cling to the promises of God; that you’ll seek stillness and cease striving as you lean on Him for the steps in your path to be laid clear, and that you’ll wake up each day with a little more hope that He is present at all times and in all things.

Hannah is an Aussie wife and mama to two littles. She’s dipping her toes into her ‘next right thing’ as she learns to navigate this chapter God has called her to. Hannah generally hovers in that space between consciousness and coffee as she tries to take each day knowing she needs grace to get through it! She’s a lover of good words, strong conversation, a well-worn thrift store, and a doughy doughnut. You can find more of Hannah’s writing over at etchedonlives.wordpress.com.