It was the Saturday before Independence Day and my husband and I made plans to meet at a lake with family at 4 p.m. We wanted to enjoy the summer day and the outdoors. That morning it started raining and the forecast didn’t look promising. We started texting back and forth discussing if we should change our plans.

We came up with plan A, B, and C. We finally decided to meet at our house at 4 p.m. and if the weather got better, we would go outside to the deck or to a lake. The rain continued… until 2 p.m. The sun came out. After all the texts back and forth, we decided to keep our original plans to meet at one of the ten thousand lakes we have in Minnesota.

While reflecting on all the time we spent worrying about the weather and changing plans, I got a revelation… Sometimes when God gives us direction to do something and we choose to do it in faith, we must stay the course regardless of circumstances. At the same time, we must be willing to change plans as God directs us.

Often God gives us direction in a specific area of our lives. Accepting God’s direction and agreeing to follow through takes faith and effort. Because it is easier to not follow through, often at the first sign of trouble or feeling uncomfortable, we start doubting if we heard from God, if we should come up with our own plans, or if we should even cancel the entire idea. While it’s good to remain flexible for God to show us a new way of following His direction, sometimes it’s much better to simply stay the course. Just because circumstances around us change or new problems arise, doesn’t mean God won’t come through for us.

I will leave you with this Scripture to encourage you to stay the course when you know you heard God’s direction in your life regardless of the circumstances around you.

Psalm 37:23-24 (NLT)

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.