When You Do Not Know What to Do
2 Chronicles 20:1–22
There are moments when the hardest part of a problem is not the size of it. The hardest part is realizing that you genuinely do not know what to do next.
That is where Jehoshaphat found himself in 2 Chronicles 20. A great multitude was coming against Judah. The danger was real, and the king was afraid. Scripture does not hide that fear. Instead, it shows what he did with it: he turned toward God, called the people together, and prayed.
One sentence in that prayer has stayed with me: “We know not what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” (2 Chronicles 20:12.) That is not the prayer of someone pretending to have everything under control. It is the prayer of someone who has reached the edge of his own understanding and chooses not to look away from God.
I think sometimes we confuse faith with certainty. We imagine that if we really trust God, we should already know the answer, feel calm, and have a perfect plan. But this chapter gives us a different picture. Jehoshaphat was afraid. He did not know what to do. Yet he still knew where to look.
There is a difference between having no plan and having no direction. We may not know the next five steps. We may not know how a financial problem will work out, how a relationship will heal, what a doctor will say, whether a door will open, or how long a difficult season will last. But we can still choose our direction. We can turn our eyes toward God.
The answer Judah received was not permission to become careless. They still had to go out. They still had to face the situation in front of them. But they were reminded that the battle ultimately belonged to God. Their responsibility was to listen, obey, stand where God told them to stand, and trust Him with what they could not control.
That matters to me because surrender is not the same thing as giving up. Sometimes surrender means making the phone call and then releasing the outcome. It means apologizing without being able to control whether the other person forgives you. It means doing the work, filling out the application, showing up for class, going to the appointment, praying for someone you love, and admitting that after all of that there are still things only God can carry.
When I do not know what to do, I do not have to manufacture an answer just so I can feel in control. I can tell Heavenly Father the truth: I do not know what to do, but my eyes are on You.
That is not weakness. That is a form of faith.
Reader Reflection
What situation in your life are you trying to solve before you have enough information? What part of it actually belongs to you, and what part are you trying to control that you cannot? Where might God be asking you to act faithfully without first giving you the whole plan?
Thought for the Day
I do not have to know everything I am going to do next. I need to know where I am looking now.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, there are things in my life I do not know how to solve. I confess that uncertainty can make me afraid and can tempt me to force answers before they are ready.
Help me do what is mine to do today. Give me wisdom for the decisions I actually have to make, courage for the steps I need to take, and humility to leave the rest with You.
When I cannot see the whole road, keep my eyes on You. When fear gets loud, remind me that I am not required to carry tomorrow before it arrives.
Teach me to trust You without becoming passive, to work without pretending I control the outcome, and to stand faithfully when I do not yet understand what comes next.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.