James Merritt - What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do
I want to go back, Teresa didn't know, I don't think, I was going to tell this story, but I want to go back to a time, been a long time ago. Teresa and I, we were at the seminary. I was pastoring a little country church. James, my oldest at the time, was 1 1/2 years old. And we were going home for Christmas. And so after my little church got through on Sunday night, we kind of stayed late, packed the car, 'cause we wanted James to sleep through. That's why we'd drive through the night, 'cause it was easier for us if he would sleep through the trip. So we left our church, and we're on the freeway coming home, south of Louisville. And it was a very cold night. The wind was howling, and we were on this stretch where there wasn't anything all.
Wasn't a lot of traffic because it was so late at night. And all of a sudden, the car just quit. I mean, just quit. And didn't know at the time, find out later it was an alternator that had gone out. And so we coasted to a stop. We pulled off by the side of the road. And I knew immediately, "This is not a good situation". 'Cause remember, this was before cell phones. It was a dark patch of the interstate. It was late at night. We hadn't seen hardly any cars going up and down the interstate. And so I was in a dilemma. What do I do? I didn't know, should I leave my wife and my little boy in the car and just get out and start walking and not even knowing where the next exit would be or how long it would take me to get there and leave them alone, or should I stay in the car, hoping that maybe some motorist would stop and that I could at least trust that would, you know, help us out in our situation?
And it was then I said something that no husband likes to say to his wife. At least if you've got any self-respect or pride, you just don't want to have to say this. But I just had to look at her, and I said, "Honey, I don't know what to do". And she said, "Well, what do you mean"? And I said "Well, should I stay, or should I go? I don't know what to do". And she said, "Well, I know what to do. Let's pray". Now, that's a good suggestion. So we did. And we just asked the Lord, "Lord, you know, you know our situation. Would you meet our needs, and would you give us wisdom on what to do"? Well, believe it or not, it was not very long after we prayed that prayer that a car came by and a car stopped, pulled over in front of us. There were two men in the car. One of the men got out, and he came over. I rolled my window down, and he asked what was wrong, and I told him. And he said, "Well, look, get in the car with us, and we'll be glad to take you somewhere to get help".
Now, to this day, I cannot explain to you, but there was something about this man I didn't like. I don't know what it was. Maybe he was wearing a Gator sweatshirt. I don't know what it was. But there was something about this man I didn't like, and there was something inside of me saying, "Don't get in that car with those two men". Now, unbeknownst to me, Teresa felt exactly the same thing, but she couldn't really say anything. So I was kind of deliberating on what to do, and about that time, a tractor-trailer came by, stopped, pulled in front of the other two men. Man gets out, comes back to the car. He asks, "What's wrong"? And he said, "Well, look, my wife and I are actually taking some cargo down to Nashville, Tennessee. We've got enough room for you. You're welcome to ride with us, and we'll be glad to take you to the next exit".
Well, not only did I have an absolute perfect peace about going with this man, but when I said to this man, "Yes, sir, I appreciate the help," the other man got very angry, began to use very profane language, and said some very ugly things, which simply affirmed to me that I probably did the right thing in not getting in the car and going with him. And so we kind of waited till they drove off, and then I got into the tractor-trailer. Well, to my relief, the exit was only half a mile up the road over the hill. And we, you know, got a tow truck, and, you know, we lived happily ever after. Now, the question is, have you ever felt the way I felt: helpless, hopeless, not really having any idea what to do? It's absolutely one of the most frustrating and one of the most frightening situations you'll ever be in in your life.
And you may say, "Man, that's where I am today. That's where I am right now. I'm stuck, mind totally blank, out of options. The light's green, everybody's blowing, but I don't know which way to go". Right? We've been there. And if you're not there, good news: you will be. Give yourself enough time in life, you're gonna find yourself in that place where you really don't know what to do. What would happen if we could ask Siri some really big questions? I mean some really tough life questions? Like this question: what do you do when you don't know what to do? What do you do when you don't know what to do? Well, fortunately, there is a story in the Bible of a woman that was exactly in that very situation, and she was asking the very same question.
So if you brought a copy of the Bible or you have a smartphone or an iPad or whatever it is you might use, and if you don't have anything, that's all right. We'll throw the verses up on the screen. But I want you to turn to 2 Kings 4. You say, "Don't have a clue where that is". Right after 1 Kings, okay? So if you'll just go to 2 Kings, "I don't know where either one of those are". If you'll go to the Old Testament, start at Genesis, go about 12 blocks to the right, you'll hit it, okay?
2 Kings 4. Let me tell you the story. This is a single mom. She has two kids, and she's facing one of the most difficult situations that anybody could face, especially a single mom, and she didn't know what to do. She had absolutely no options. She was at the end of her rope. She didn't know where to turn. And it wasn't that she had a variety of options and she was saying, "Well, which one do I chose"? She had no options. She literally did not know what to do. And in that most difficult situation, this woman learned a very valuable lesson, an incredibly valuable lesson. And so let me just kind of give you some good news. If you're listening right now and you're saying, "Man, did I ever need to hear this", I had a couple of ladies come out after 9:15, tears in their eyes: "You don't know how I needed this message". Maybe that's you. You're in a situation, you can't sleep at night, you don't have a good appetite, you're worried to death because you just don't know what to do.
Let me give you some good news. Chill out. Relax. Don't panic. Remember this truth. When you don't know what to do, God does. When you don't know what to do, God does. If you don't mind, just turn to the person you're sitting next to right now and just say that right now. Just say that right now. That's true. It's true. When you don't know what to do, God does. And now here's what I want to show you. This is, you're gonna love this. This woman took three steps, very simple steps, but this woman took three steps that can guide you when you don't know what to do. And I'm gonna do something I don't do often. I'm gonna strongly advise you to write these three things down. Because the next time you're in this situation, and you're gonna be there, you're going to need to know what to do. When you want to do what you don't know to do, when you want to do what you need to do, you just don't know what it is you need to do, these steps are gonna really stand you in good stead.
Now, let me tell you a story about a great Bible teacher I knew named Dr. Ron Dunn. Most of you have never heard of him. He was one of the greatest Bible teachers I've ever heard. He had great insight into scripture. Dr. Dunn was at a Bible conference, and he was talking on the subject of how to know the will of God and how to be led by the Spirit of God and how to make wise decisions. So when he got through, great presentation, he let people ask questions. First question out of the chute, lady stood up on about the third row. Lady stands up, and she asked Dr. Dunn this question. She said, "Dr. Dunn, what do you do when you don't know what to do"? And I still remember, Ron was thinking for just a moment, trying to think about what he was gonna say, and he gave this answer. This is the first thing you do when you don't know what to do. You ready? When you don't know what to do, do what you know to do. When you don't know what to do, do what you know to do.
Now, let me show you how this works. We're in 2 Kings 4:1. "Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets", that's important, "cried to Elisha, 'Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.'" Now, this woman obviously is in deep, deep trouble. She's a single mom. She's a widow. Her husband just died. And what's even worse, she wasn't married to the CEO of a big company, right? She was married to a ministerial student who had been in the seminary. That's why he was called a son of the prophets. Back in Bible times, prophets would gather students around them, and they would just travel with that prophet kind of like the disciples did with Jesus. It was kind of a traveling seminary. They were called the sons of the prophets.
Now, just knowing that her husband was a seminary student tells me that she didn't have any money. Here's this lady. Her husband's dead. He's a preacher, didn't have any money. She's deep in debt. Wolves are howling at the door. People are lined up saying, "You owe me. Pay up, you know, or we're gonna take action". Now, remember, there was no life insurance, no 401(k), no retirement plan, no social security, no government handout, no welfare system, no safety net. She obviously had sold everything that she has back. And the problem was, back in that day, if you owed money you couldn't pay back, they could take your children. This mother, who is obviously a very godly woman, thank God she remembered, when you don't know what to do, God does. God knows the problem you've got. God knows the situation you face. God know the confusion that you experience. Now, look. Watch this.
You say, "Okay, Pastor. Can you just tell me one thing I can always know to do when I don't know what to do"? Absolutely. There's one thing you can always know to do when you don't know what to do, and that is, you can wait on the Lord to show you what to do. One of my favorite verses in the Bible, one of my absolute favorite, is 2 Chronicles 16:9. It says this. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth", Right now, God's eyes are moving all over the earth. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him". In other words, when you don't know where to turn, you can always turn to God. He is literally watching for people who are in the midst of the most difficult situations who will simply stop and say, "Wait a minute. I don't know what to do, Lord, but you do".
And how often do we do this? How often, when we get to a point we don't know what to do, we turn to everybody else except the one who does? It's amazing to me. And I remember, as a young boy, that my dad taught me four words. You've heard them many times. Maybe you've taught them to your kids. One of the greatest lessons you'll ever learn, four simple words, and you remember what they are. Stop, look, and listen. You remember that? Stop, look, and listen. Well, when you don't know what to do, that's great advice. Stop. Don't panic. Look to the Lord. And just listen. Because there's one thing I know you can always do when you don't know what to do. You can turn to your heavenly Father. You can talk to your heavenly Father. And you can trust that your heavenly Father, at his time, at the right time, will tell you what to do. Step one. You don't know what to do, do what you know to do. Step two. "I don't know what to do". Well, ask what you should do. Ask what you should do.
Now, let's go back to what this woman did. Verse 1. "Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha", that's important, she cried to Elisha, big, big, big point, "'Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.'" All right, big question. She doesn't go to a banker. She doesn't go to a businessman. She does not go to a financier. She goes to Elisha. "Elisha, I don't know what to do. Can you tell me what to do"? Now, why would she go to Elisha? Because we're told here that Elisha was a man of God. He was the representative of God. And see, one of the ways that God will guide you when you don't know what to do is, he will bring people into your life that do know what to do. "And Elisha said to her, 'Well, what shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?' And she said, 'Your servant has nothing in the house except for a jar of oil.'"
Now, buckle your seat belt, 'cause this is one of the most fascinating stories you're ever gonna read in all the Bible. Watch this. She comes to Elisha. She says, "I don't know what to do. Can you tell me what to do"? And Elisha asked her two questions that I'm gonna ask you to write down right now. Because the next time you don't know what to do, ask yourself these two questions. Here's what he asked her. Number one, "What do you need"? So you say, "I don't know what to do". Well, what is it you need? What's causing this problem? What do you need? Second question he asked her is, "What do you have"? What do you need, and what do you have? Well, she needed money, okay? "What do you have"? "All I've got is this jar of oil". No. She thought it was just a jar of oil. Actually, it was an oil well. And you're gonna see that in just a moment.
See, that jar of oil was her gold mine. That was her way out, but she ignored it. She underrated it. She overlooked it. And what she didn't realize is, this is so true about you and me. What she didn't realize is, so many times, God has already given us exactly what we need. We just don't see it. Never underestimate what God is doing in your life right now to solve your problem. Never underestimate. God may have brought someone into your life this past Friday. You didn't think a big thing about it. You took his business card. You stuck it in your wallet. But one day, you won't know what to do, and God's gonna bring to your mind, "But you remember that guy you met"? "Yeah. I've still got his card". "He knows what to do. Call him. She knows what to do. Call her".
Don't ever underestimate what you've got in your possession right now. 'Cause you may not think you need it today. You may need it tomorrow. You may not think God can use that person today. God may be able to use that person tomorrow. And that's why we read now Elisha giving her these instructions. Listen to what happens. This is so cool. "Then he said, 'All right, go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors'", that's jars, "'empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.' So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured, they brought the vessels to her".
Now, let me just stop and state the obvious. That just seems strange. It's just weird. He said, "What do you have"? "Well, I've got this little flask of oil". Light comes on. He said, "Okay, go to all the neighbors that you can find and get every empty clean jar you can find". Now, let me just stop right there. Can you just imagine this? I want you to imagine you came to me and said, "Look, I'm about to go bankrupt. I'm about to lose my house, my car, everything". And I see a can of 10W-40 in your garage. I say, "Tell you what you do. Go to every neighbor that you can, and if they've got any jar that holds oil, go get it". You know what you'd be saying to me? "Is that the best you got? Is that all you're brining to the table? Are you absolutely kidding me"?
And I promise you, at first, that woman may have thought exactly the same thing. Because let me tell you what happens to us so often. How many times has this happened to you? 'Cause it's happened to me. How many times, you're in a position where you don't know what to do, but you're so full of pride, you don't want anybody to know that you don't know what to do, so you don't ask anybody what to do? Or what's even worse, you ask somebody what to do, and then you're still so full of pride, you just don't do it. Now, listen carefully. Everything I've just told you has been a total waste of your time and a total waste of mine if you don't take the third step. If you don't take the third step, it won't work. You'll still be stuck in the land of not knowing what to do. When you don't know what to do, you do what you know to do, you ask what you should do, and then finally, you obey what you need to do. You obey what you need to do. And remember, remember, when you don't know what to do, what? God does. When you don't know what to do, God does.
So you're in a situation right now, you say, "Man, I don't know what to do". All right, let me give you some good news. Whether you even realize this or not, God's already working in your behalf. God's already moving the checkerboards. He knows exactly what he is going to do. So this woman comes. He says, "Okay, here's what I want you to do". He tells her. Seems like it's dumb. Seems like it's stupid. Seems like it's weird. But yet give her credit. No debate, no discussion, no dispute, no disagreement, no deliberation. What does she does? Finds the vessels, shuts the door, pours the oil, fills the vessels. And when she did what she needed to do, God did what he said he would do.
Now, listen. If you don't hear anything else I say, I want you to hear this, 'cause this is the linchpin to the whole deal. When you don't know what to do, God will show you what to do but only if you're willing to do what he shows you to do. If you've already got your mind made up, "Lord, I'll do what you want me to do as long as it's this", when you don't know what to do, God will show you what to do only if you're willing to do whatever God shows you to do. The greatest advice ever given in all of the Bible, in my opinion, was given at a wedding in Canaan when Mary, the mother of Jesus, looked at some servants and she made this one simple statement. She said, "Do whatever he", that is Jesus, "Do whatever he tells you to do".
Now, let me give you a little secret. Let me let you in on a secret. When you don't know what to do... Let's say you're here right now, and hopefully I'm ministering to you, and I hope you're sitting there and you're going, "Man, did I need to hear this message. Boy, Pastor, I'm in this situation, and I don't know what to do". All right, let me tell you what's going on right now. When you don't know what to do, God's always testing two things. He's testing your faith or your patience, and he's testing your obedience. He's testing your patience, and he's testing your obedience. Let me tell you what I mean. When you don't know what to do, you do nothing, unless you already know what to do, until God shows you what to do. Then, when God shows you what to do, as Nike says, just do it. Because when you don't know what to do, God is testing your faith, but he's measuring you by your obedience.
Now, don't you ever forget this. God tests us by our faith, but he measures us by our obedience. When you don't know what to do, God's asking you two questions. Question number one: "So you don't know what to do"? "No, Lord, I don't know what to do". "Do you trust me to show you at the right time what to do"? "Yes, Lord". "Okay, if I show you what to do, will you do it no matter what"? He tests us by our faith. He measures us by our obedience. 'Cause listen to the conclusion of this story. Listen to verse 6. "When the vessels were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another vessel.' And he said to her, 'There's not another.' Then the oil stopped flowing. She came and told the man of God, and he said, 'Okay, go, sell the oil, pay for your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.'"
Now, watch this. Story ends happily ever after, right? She fills all these jars with oil. He says, "Okay, fine". She sells the oil, pays off the debts. They go to Disney World, right? Everybody lives happily ever after. Now, don't miss this. There's only one reason she ran out of oil. What was it? You just read it. What was the reason? Ran out of vessels. If that woman had kept finding vessels, you know where we'd all be this morning? We wouldn't be in church. We'd be at her house watching how those vessels are being filled up. Because I want you to hear this. There was no limit on the amount of oil. The only limit was the number of vessels.
Now, watch this. You and I can limit God. Oh, yeah. You and I can limit God. And there's two ways we limit God, and we do it every day in our life. We limit God by our faith, and we limit God by our obedience. Jesus goes to his own hometown. He's doing miracles everywhere. Man, he's raising the sick. He's giving sight to the blind. He's giving hearing to the deaf. He's helping the mute to speak. He's doing miracles everywhere. And he goes to his own hometown, and the Bible says couldn't hardly do any miracles there. You remember what the Bible says why he couldn't do it? Somebody tell me. They didn't believe him. There was unbelief. And God says, "You know, there's so much I want to do in your life, but you limit me. Because number one, you don't trust me, and then number two, even when you do, when I tell you what to do, you don't do it".
So we can limit God both by our faith and our obedience. Listen, the biggest problems I deal with with people that come to see me, I don't hardly ever deal with anybody that comes into my office and says, "I really don't know what to do". Now, that's rare. Sometimes. But 99% of the time, I don't really deal with people that come into my office 'cause they don't know what to do. You know what I'm dealing with? I'm dealing with people that know what to do; they just won't do it. You don't know where you are in your spiritual journey. You don't even know how to get to where you need to. You just know you're not where you need to be and you need to go where you need to go. But you just don't know what to do. You want to have a relationship with God; you just don't know how to get there.
Now, watch this. So I come along, and I say, "God loves you so much and wants you to find your way so badly and wants to have a relationship with you so greatly, he knows what you may not realize. And that is, the reason why you are where you are is because of what the Bible calls 'sin.' 'Cause we're all sinners. And you don't know what to do about your problem. And you know why you don't know what to do about your problem? Because you can't do anything about it, so I took care of it. I sent Jesus, my son, to die on the cross for your sins. And then I raised my son from the dead just to prove to you he is who he said he was and he did what he said that he did. And all you've got to do is put your faith and trust in my son, Jesus. Give your life to him, and then just pledge to obey him the rest of your life, and he'll take care of everything else".
Let me just stop right there. You've heard me say that a million times. I get that. Here's what I want you to see. Now, watch this. Now you know what you need to do. There's only one step left to take. You got to do what you know to do. That's it. Done. Question now becomes, will you trust God and will you obey God? 'Cause think about this. When we didn't know what to do with our sin and our failures and our fault, God did. And God sends Jesus so that we can know how to be forgiven. And then once we're forgiven, we say, "Well, how do we live, God, in such a way in this world that's got so many temptations? And there are so many paths in the road. There are so many forks in the road. How do you know which way to go"? God says, "I'll give you my word so you'll always know exactly what you need to do". So as we wrap up, when you don't know what to do, you surrender to the authority of God's son, you listen to the guidance of God's word, and you obey the leadership of God's Spirit, and you'll know what to do. Because remember, when you don't know what to do, God does.