When You Don't Know What Comes Next

There is so much pressure to have everything figured out. We’re constantly asked, What are you doing next? What’s the plan? How are you going to make it work? Where do you want to be a year from now? And sometimes the most truthful answer is simply,

I don’t know yet.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how quickly we can turn life into one giant checklist. We make plans, set goals, build schedules, and chase the next thing. None of those things are necessarily bad, but somewhere along the way, we can become so focused on figuring out what's next that we completely miss what God is doing right now.

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105

I've always loved that verse, but lately I've been thinking about what it actually says. A lamp doesn't light the entire road ahead. It gives you enough light to see where you're standing and where to put your foot next. Maybe that's all we're supposed to have sometimes.

We don't need to know exactly how everything is going to work out. We don't need every answer before we're willing to move, and we certainly don't have to wait until life feels perfectly organized before we allow ourselves to enjoy it.

Maybe today is about taking care of your body, sitting outside with a cup of coffee, finally starting the thing you've been putting off, or making dinner out of whatever happens to be left in the refrigerator. Maybe it's resting without convincing yourself that you have to earn it first, calling someone you love, or simply being present enough to notice the goodness tucked into the ordinary moments happening all around you.

Wellness is bigger than what we eat or how much we exercise.

It's how we care for the life we've been given.

It's nourishing our bodies and protecting our peace. It's laughing until our stomachs hurt, getting outside, creating things, setting boundaries, resting when we're tired, loving our people, and making room for God in the middle of all of it.

I'm learning that a healthy life doesn't have to be a perfectly controlled life. Sometimes it's messy. Plans change. Some days we're incredibly motivated and checking things off the list, and other days we're doing pretty well just to get dinner on the table.

And that's life.

I don't want to become so obsessed with building a better tomorrow that I forget to live the beautiful, imperfect life sitting right in front of me today.

So if you don't have everything figured out right now, you don't need to force an answer. Look for the light you have and take the next step. Make the dinner. Take the walk. Say the prayer. Enjoy your people. Pay attention to what's happening today, and trust God with the part of the road you can't see yet.

You don't need the whole path illuminated to know you're still moving forward.