WHY IS GOD NOT GIVING ME THE CLARITY I NEED?

I remember a season in my life when I was under a lot of stress. For weeks, I slept for four hours or less because my schedule was consistently packed full. There was so much that needed to be done. At that time, I’d been pushed into some sort of radical exposure, many thanks to my coach, and my mind just seemed to have popped open, eager to harness some of the hidden potentials I didn’t know existed.

I was becoming really overwhelmed. Multiple ideas were jarring in my mind and they all seemed very urgent but for goodness sake, like every human on earth, I had only twenty-four hours.  I was actually close to experiencing a mental breakdown. Even when I tried to get some rest or divert to a less engaging task, I was still very tired. 

This was when I knew I needed help. I deleted almost three- thousand words of the second episode of  Dear Franca Series, a short story collection I was working on at that time. While I would have been able to restore my document with simple Ctrl Z or the undo icon at the top of the Word Document, I went ahead to permanently delete it. For a few minutes, I just sat there asking myself, ‘Ife Grace, what did you just do?’ 

I began to talk to the Lord about clarity.  There had to be a way to handle the few things I was working on. Why would I be stressed out like that when I had not even touched most of the ideas that would become long-term structures in my career and purpose. 

Lord, help me. I need light. How do I create a balance? What am I supposed to do? I didn’t call myself, you did. You gave me these ideas, these dreams and yet I’m still stressed out…

As simple as that prayer may seem, the pattern with which I got my answer is what I want to share with you today. I want you to cast down that mindset that expects to receive clarity in a spectacular way. The light you require for this season may already be here but with a preset notion on how such answers should come may hinder you from accessing them. 

Can I share four ways light has come to me over certain situations?

1. The Holy Spirit can prompt your heart towards resources-Youtube Channel, articles, books that gives an answer to the questions burning in your heart. 

When I said the prayer I shared earlier, one way I received answers was by the indirect prompting of the Spirit towards intellectual resources.  I get it that the Holy Spirit can specifically speak to your heart and give you directions on what to do. You can be reading a scripture and the answer can come. I am a recipient of direct instructions. I can’t count the number of times when in my personal devotion, light suddenly shone on my mind and I screamed, ‘Oh my God! I see it now!’ 

But leading doesn’t always happen that way. After I deleted that story and was frustrated at my almost disorganised life and I made that simple prayer, I went about my normal activity. The following day, for no particular reason, I went to my telegram page. Sincerely, I didn’t know what I was looking for there. I noticed my coach had dropped a resource on our group coaching page. 

Usually, I would have scheduled reading the book for later but I just felt like checking out what the book was about and gbam! I got the answer I needed in the most practicable way ever.

I couldn’t believe I was seeing my answer right before me! 

I can’t say emphatically that the Holy Spirit said, ‘Ife, check your telegram page.’ ‘Now download the book she shared.’

The truth is sometimes, leading happens when you are not even conscious that you are being led. But that’s the Father we have. He loves to surprise us. It gives us an assurance to us that God is actively monitoring all that concerns us. It further establishes our trust in the Lord. That book was my miracle. I knew why I was overwhelmed, what I needed to do to deal with it and it worked. 

What I’m saying is, do not box God in the manner He seeks to lead you.

Apostle Joshua Selman shared a story where a question that had been burning in his heart was solved by watching a 15 mins Youtube video. 

Sometimes, you might not even be able to explain how you got to a blog or the reason you clicked that link that led you to a video or your reason for attending a particular conference, but the resultant effect is that you received the light you needed. 

For some, an exposure to knowledge is the clarity they require. For others who already know what to do but don’t know how, it is wisdom that may be absent and that is available too.  

Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Proverbs 24:3-4 NLT

2. Clarity comes through the people God has placed in your life as well as the season you are in. 

Many times, the Senior Pastor of my church has given direct answers to the questions in my heart. I clearly remember a time when I went to bed bothered about a particular situation and wondering how to solve it. Usually, I leave sermons running at bedtime and on this day, I woke in the middle of the night to my Pastor giving the answer to the question. I’m not even kidding right now. I was astounded, believe me. Interestingly, the sermon I played had been preached long before I joined the church.  

Another time, I was brooding over questions in my heart concerning a direction I needed to take. As I watched a video  by my coach, she answered my question in such a way as if I had directly asked her the question. 

What about my friends? Just regular gist we’ll be having and I’d get ideas on how to solve a problem. 

I do not joke with the people God has brought to my life. I have learnt and I am still learning to discern the relationships in my life. I can tell you emphatically that one of the greatest ways God will bring clarity of purpose and season to your life is through the right people. 

For by wise counsel, you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counsellors, there is safety.

Proverbs 24:6 NLT

3. Clarity comes in seed form and requires you take a step to clearly see the next one. 

Don’t be the believer whose interest is only in the end result. Remember that popular saying, Do not despise the days of little beginning. 

You might be pursuing clarity because your focus is on the end goal while ignoring the process God is taking you through. No matter how many clarity conferences you attend, as long as you are not ready for the rigorous work that many times puts you in obscurity, you will keep getting frustrated. 

Some people actually have the clarity they need, at least at this season of their life. They are already on the right path but then comparisons with someone else’s season, desire for fame and recognition can blur out that light. As you stay content with what God is showing you, it becomes easier to walk in the bigger light that produces great results. A wise man is one who understands processes. He is sensitive to see his answers in the small steps that will culminate into the bigger picture he desires to achieve. 

4. Clarity comes in your thoughts process.

It is easier for the leading of God to be communicated in your thoughts if you have a thriving relationship with God. As you spend time in devotion consistently, your thoughts become a channel for a free flow of information from your spirit. When you experience recurrent information in your thoughts even after spending some time praying, that’s something to hold on to. God shows you His plan in pictures and for storytellers like me, you might find your future unfolding in your mind like a story. 

Let me conclude by saying,

We have a father who loves to answer us. 

Can I encourage you to pray the Pauline Prayers often? Ephesians 1:17-22 is a great place to start from. 

God wants to lead you. He doesn’t want you groping in the dark, confused about what to do or what step to take. There are answers in your spirit.  As long as you don’t spend time communing with Him on a daily basis, you will continue to struggle to be led. Maybe this is where to start from. Do a self-evaluation on your devotional life. How’s your prayer life like? How much of God’s Word do you take in regularly. 

I’ll leave you with this beautiful prayer by Paul in Colossians 1:9

I ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Amen