Have you ever asked God for a sign when making a decision and ….nothing? I recently read a novel where the main character, a Christian looking to make a life-altering decision, had asked God which direction she should go. But in the end she had to make her choice first, before she got the sign.

I have found myself in a similar position when I needed guidance. When I pondered why that would be, I realized that we don’t always follow God’s guidance, but He still takes care of us and can get us back on track. I wonder if there could be several reasons why we don’t get our answer when we want it.

One possible reason is that, while the decision may be life changing at an individual level, it may not really make a difference in the big picture. We are only seeing a tiny portion of our full life, while God sees the whole picture. Do we ever consider the larger view when our anxiety about a decision is getting the better of us?

God knows how to talk to us, but are we really listening? It’s easy to say that we are open, but being human, we may have an answer in mind and may only be looking for confirmation of that decision. When the answer is different than what we expect, it can be hard to see the direction God is giving us. When one of the choices takes us outside of our comfort zone, it can be even harder to accept guidance. Can we really let go and let God?

Another possibility is that God has an alternate path in mind for us. We can seek God’s guidance, looking for a yes/no or a choice a/b, but when the answer is something totally different, we may have trouble understanding. Even if we are open, we often start to imagine what would life be like in the options we had in mind, and we begin to prepare ourselves. We miss the turn-off for the new direction completely because we are already too far along the path.

No matter what the question or the answer, if we are following God’s plan, there is one thing that He will always provide: peace. When we can be at peace with our decision, no matter what challenges come our way, we can lean on God to get us through and be confident in the path we are taking.